A Learning Experience
by SaltyJak
Summary: While relaxing by the pool one day, Vicky accidentally learns something about Timmy: He doesn't know how to swim. With this in mind, she makes it her goal to teach the boy how to swim, but the red-head has some secrets of her own that she'd rather keep hidden... Now with light romance!
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I had to look up the past tense of tread water to write this, so fuck you English language.

* * *

The warm, late spring sun shone down on the city of Dimmsdale, raising the temperature of it and the surrounding suburbs to a relatively comfortable, if somewhat humid; seventy-eight degrees. Being that the city was located in southern California, many of its residents had already opened their pools to seek relief from the sweltering heat that summer would soon bring, and the same was true for the in-ground pool in the backyard of the Turner residence, which had been built the year before by a one Timmy Turner, at the command of his babysitter, Vicky.

Were it not for the boy's fairies, he very likely wouldn't have gotten very far in his assigned project, but his babysitter hadn't found it necessary to keep a constant watch on him, and this disinterested attitude was exactly what allowed him to turn a project that should've taken him several weeks, into an affair that was completed in just a few days. The only true difficulties he faced were making sure he looked tired and dirty whenever the sixteen year old came out to see his progress, and restraining himself from simply wishing for an in-ground pool.

To her credit, Vicky _did_ seem a bit shocked when she came out on the fourth day to check on Timmy, only to find that the pool was cemented, lined with a liner, and filled with water, but a quick story from the brunet about how his parents had picked up the necessary materials to do all that the night before was enough for her. The Turners seemed fine with the new addition to their backyard, and while the sixteen year old _was_ a bit skeptical at first, she was quick to shrug off the bizarreness of the situation and take it at face value. It simply wasn't her style to overanalyze the details of _how_ the chores or projects she assigned the boy were done, so long as they did get done.

"Hah... I guess she does have _some_ good ideas..." Timmy admitted with a sigh as he sat at the edge of the pool he'd wished for, his legs hanging over the side into the pleasantly cool water; kicking them forward and back every now and then. Not far behind him was an outdoor table with chairs, along with a large umbrella, stuck in the middle of said table, shielding the eleven year old from the worst the sun had to offer, though he was still uncomfortably warm... Just a bit.

 _Splash!_

"Ack!" Timmy brought his right arm up to shield himself from the sudden splash of water, shivering a little as the cool droplets hit his skin.

"Quit sighing and come in the pool already, Twerp! I can tell you're hot just by looking at you, so hop in!" Vicky, clad in a lime green two-piece bikini; called over from the middle of the pool, flicking a few more droplets of water at her charge as she kicked her legs back and forth to stay afloat. "C'mon... I know you'd rather swim with a shark, but I... Probably don't bite...!" She grinned evilly, flashing her pearly white teeth at the boy.

"Yeah, I'm-Ah... I'm good here, thanks." The eleven year old brunet replied sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head as he eyed the deep end of the pool just in front of him. The only reason he was sitting on the deep side of the pool was because of the umbrella behind him, as he tended to burn rather easily in the sun.

"Hey, did you forget that _I'm_ the babysitter here? That means _I'm_ in charge, and in the interest of your health, I'm telling you: Get in the pool." The older teen casually swam over to her charge; latching onto the edge of the pool with her right hand as she reached it, before folding both her arms and settling them on the edge, followed by her head, which came to rest on her arms to use them as a sort of makeshift pillow.

Timmy instinctively slid to his right, away from his babysitter; in response, stopping just short of leaving the shade of the umbrella. "I... I can't. B-Because... Um... I... J-Just ate! Yeah, I just ate a little while ago, I don't wanna get a cramp." The boy nodded, seemingly agreeing with his own quick-thinking skills.

"Cramps are a myth, a lot like that story you just told me, since you haven't eaten since I got here. I told you I was ordering pizza for dinner, remember?" Vicky shot Timmy a clearly unimpressed look, her eyes bored and half-lidded.

"W-Well... Um... I don't- I don't want my... Oh! My sunscreen'll wash off if I go in the pool! I burn really easily, so..." The boy trailed off, gulping as he met the older girl's pink-eyed gaze, still looking rather unimpressed after hearing his excuse.

"Twerp, you're not _wearing_ any sunscreen." To emphasize her point, the red-head reached her left hand out, extended her index finger, and dragged it down Timmy's arm, along his left bicep. "Which is dumb on its own, but I forgot to tell you to put some on. Either way, the sunscreen I got is waterproof, so you _can_ come in the pool with it on." Vicky moved her head off her arms and braced her hands on the pool's edge, then lifted herself up and out of the water, before spinning around to sit down on the edge in the same manner that Timmy was. "You wanna try again?"

"Uhm-! I think I hear Cosmo and Wanda calling me, better go see what they want!" The brunet shot to his feet, knowing that despite the sly smile she was shooting him, Vicky was clearly growing impatient.

"Now you're not even trying...!" The red-head suddenly stood up, and before her charge could even take a single step, shot her right hand out toward him, her fingers curling around his wrist. This was soon followed by her giving the boy a quick yank back toward her and the pool, making him turn to face her and stumble, only for the red-head to catch him by placing both hands on his shoulders, leaving him standing right in front of her, Vicky's back to the pool.

"Uh-Heh... V-Vicky?" Timmy squeaked out as he attempted to step backward, but the older girl's strong grip kept him firmly rooted to the spot. "I... Should _really_ go check on Cosmo and Wanda, I think I forgot to feed them today..." He audibly gulped, knowing deep down that there was little chance Vicky would believe his lie, especially after saying his goldfish were _calling_ him.

"Boy, your shoulders sure feel _tense_. Kinda warm too..." She gave his shoulders a gentle squeeze, catching the boy off guard, since he was much more accustomed to the girl being somewhat rough with him. "Y'know what _I_ think?"

"Um..." Another gulp, this time coupled with a bout of slight shivering as Timmy looked up at his babysitter. "Wh-What?"

"I think... You need to relax, chill out for a bit... Know what I mean?" Vicky stepped to the right, her hands slipping off the brunet's shoulders, then around him, repositioning herself so she was right behind the boy, her hands finding their way back onto his shoulders.

"Uh-N-No, Vi-Vicky..." He took a step backward, the back of his head lightly crashing into the red-head's stomach. "I don't know- I can't-Ack!" Before he could finish, Timmy felt a rough shove from behind on both of his shoulders, sending him careening over the edge of the pool and into the deep end, which itself was about eight and half feet deep.

 _Sploosh!_

"Ack-Kah!" Timmy splashed and flailed, trying in vain to push his rapidly sinking form toward the side of the pool, either edge would work; he just needed _something_ to grab onto so he could keep his head above water. "Vic- Ugh! Ky!" He gasped for air as water rushed into his mouth, accidentally inhaling it as he panicked.

Vicky, meanwhile; watched her charge's struggle with a bit of curiosity, before rolling her eyes and adopting a flat look. "Oh yeah, very funny, Twerp. I _know_ you can swim, so stop playing around..." She shook her head to dispel the tiny hint of worry that had come over her, realizing the boy was probably just surprised by her little push, and wanted to make her worry to either get back at her, or save face.

Timmy continued to struggle, kicking his legs as hard as he could to keep afloat, which was quickly exhausting the eleven year old. "Nuh- No! I can't-Kah!" He coughed up a mouthful of water and gasped, which only caused him to inhale another mouthful into his lungs, robbing him of the ability to deliver life-giving oxygen to his already exhausted muscles. Before he knew it, he'd sunk below the surface, his babysitter's form growing blurry as darkness began to slowly encroach on his vision, starting at the edges, but soon expanding toward the center of it, then going dark completely.

"Ugh... Very funny, kid. I'll admit, you're pretty dedicated, but..." The red-head absently scratched at her arm in a disinterested tone, her eyes glancing down toward Timmy every now and again. "And now he's..." She paused, at last noticing that Timmy's eyes were not only closed, but his mouth was wide open, allowing water to flow into it unimpeded. "What is he-? Hey!" She knelt down at the edge of the pool, slapping the water with her right hand to make a large splash. "Enough screwing around! Get back up here before you drow-" Vicky's eyes widened as the realization hit her like a truck, her stomach feeling like it had just just been punched by a world-famous pugilist. Without another word or even thought, the seventeen year old shot forward, diving into the water and scraping her legs on the cement by the pool's edge in the process.

Her momentum sent her nearly all the way to the bottom, where Timmy was; and she kicked once more to reach him, awkwardly looping one arm around his waist before bracing her feet against the bottom of the pool, then pushing herself up with all her might, shooting herself back to the surface near-instantly. Her head broke the surface with a loud splash, and she quickly swam over to the edge of the pool, her unconscious charge in tow.

For some reason, Vicky found that her mouth seemingly couldn't find any words. She felt annoyed, angry even, since Timmy had never once thought to mention that he couldn't swim, and even his parents were evidently unaware, or simply didn't care enough to give the fact any thought. Worse than annoyed though, she felt scared, alien as the emotion was to her. "Urgh!" Using her well-known yet inexplicable(for her age and size) strength, the red-head hauled both herself and Timmy out of the water, carefully setting him down on, lying on his back; on the cement that surrounded the edge of the pool. _"Okay, think. He was only down there a few seconds, so..."_ A light bulb turned on in the seventeen year old's head. "Rrgh... Dammit, Twerp! Wake up!" Vicky, now on her hands and knees, yelled into the brunet's face, only to hang her head soon after as she realized it didn't work. "Shit... All I know of CPR is that garbage I've seen in movies..."

The seconds ticked by as the older teen wondered what she could do. She knew her best bet was to try CPR, as even if she called an ambulance, they'd probably take at least five minutes to get there, and by then...

"You little...! How can you do this to me?! If you die on my watch... How am I supposed to keep babysitting after that?! No one's gonna hire me if you...!" Vicky felt a mild itch at the corners of her eyes and rubbed at them. At the same time, her feeling of having been punched in the gut now felt like a twisting knot, one that made her want to throw up. "Son of a...Argh...!" She quickly glanced to her left, then her right, seeing that her yelling had apparently gone unnoticed by the neighbors living in the houses on either side of the Turner household. "R-Right, um... I should... Listen for a pulse." She leaned down, allowing her head to settle on Timmy's chest, her ear pressed to it. There was a faint, barely perceptible beating noise in the boy's chest, but it wasn't anywhere near as loud as she knew it should be.

"Alright, he's still... Alive..." She pulled away, beginning the next step of what she knew of CPR by settling both hands, one over the other; in the middle of his chest. "Crap, was it to three? Or... Was it more?" Shaking her head as she realized she was very quickly running out of time, Vicky pressed down hard on Timmy's chest. "One, two, three..." She punctuated each number with another downward pump, until reaching ten, then dropped back to the ground, her head settling on his chest again. As before, she heard faint beating, but from what she could tell, Timmy still wasn't breathing. "Fuck..." She muttered under her breath as she pulled away, her pink-eyed gaze falling on Timmy's face; his lips parted somewhat. "That just leaves..." She moved up along his body, settling herself next to his head, and turning it so he faced up at the sky. "Y-You'd better be dying for r-real, Twerp..." Using her index finger and thumb, she pinched Timmy's nose closed, then moved in, briefly pausing just before her lips touched his. _"Stop hesitating!"_ A voice in her mind screamed at her, causing her to suddenly jolt forward and cover the brunet's mouth with her own, then blow all the air in her lungs into Timmy, an act that she was quick to repeat, as she'd forgotten to inhale fully the first time.

She noticed his chest rise out of the corner of her eye, and she pulled away to look down at Timmy. "Oh... C'mon, Twerp! Wake up!" Vicky moved to the boy's chest again, settling her hands down, palms flat; on the middle of his chest. "You are _not_ dying on. My. Watch!" Again, she punctuated each word with a rough downward pump on the brunet's chest, her tone growing just a bit desperate as she crawled up near his head again, this time wasting no time in sucking in a huge breath of air, holding the boy's nose, and covering his mouth with her own once more as she exhaled into him.

Unlike the first attempt, however; this try was met with results, as she felt Timmy's small form jolt beneath her, causing her to instinctively pull away as his eyes shot wide open and he turned onto his side. "Gah! ...Ah-Kah!" The eleven year old shifted onto his hands and knees, a light spasm wracking his body as it forced the excess water out of his lungs, making him cough it up in between gasps for air.

"Uh... H-Here, let me..." Vicky crawled over to Timmy's side, then lightly thumped his back with the palm of her hand, hoping to help clear his lungs.

"Ah... Hah... Th-Thanks..." The brunet managed to gasp out between breaths for air, his voice sounding a bit hoarse from coughing. "I'm-Uh... I think... I'm okay now." He rocked back, folding his legs underneath him to sit on them. His eyes soon drifted to his shoulder, Vicky's hand still resting on it; then up along her own arm and shoulder to eventually settle on her face, her pink eyes filled with... Some emotion he didn't recognize. Were they not the eyes of his babysitter, he might think it was worry he saw in them, but he told himself it couldn't be that. This _was_ Vicky, after all.

"Phew..." A sigh of relief escaped the seventeen year old as she hung her head, her worry slowly ebbing away now that her charge was conscious and seemingly coherent. "Jeez, Twerp. You had me worried for a few minutes there..."

" _Wait, she_ was _worried?"_ Timmy thought to himself incredulously, realizing that yes, Vicky _had_ just admitted to being worried about him, she even sounded genuinely _relieved_ when saying it. "But... Why?"

"Wha- Whaddya mean _why_?! You almost just _drowned_!" She shot back in a tone that almost sounded defensive to the boy's ears. "It's not like I _want_ something bad to happen to you! I _do_ care about you- ...Getting paid, y'know! If you go and die from something as _stupid_ as drowning, it's gonna severely impact the-Uh... The amount of money I get from your parents!" Vicky yanked her hand away from the brunet's shoulder; crossing her arms and nodding in agreement with herself as her cheeks took on a _very_ light shade of pink.

"Oh... Alright then..." Timmy sighed, his gaze dropping to the cement ground between them. "I just thought that you... I dunno..."

An awkward silence pervaded the backyard, prompting Vicky to wonder how she could break it.

"Look, um..." The red-head began, only to trail off soon after. Somewhere, deep down, she knew she at least owed Timmy an apology for pushing him into the water, especially since he _had_ been trying to tell her he couldn't swim, but...

She pushed herself up and to her feet, stretching a little once she stood up fully. "We should... _I_ should probably take you to the hospital. Just to, y'know, make sure you're alright after... _That_."

"But... I feel fine, I don't want-" Timmy began, his tone childish and a bit pleading.

"Well _I_ want to make sure you're _alright_. ...Because I could get in a lot of trouble with your parents if you're not, so we're going to the hospital. Go up to your room and dry off, change if you want, and then come back down so we can go." Vicky commanded, clearly not budging on the issue.

"Vicky, I'm _fine_. I won't say anything to my mom and dad, so please-" The boy tried again, now very much pleading with the older girl. It wasn't that he had any bad experiences with hospitals, there was just something about them that he didn't like. Maybe it was the smell, maybe it was the risk of getting sick, or maybe it was just the fact that, as a kid, he felt like he was 'supposed to' not like hospitals. Whatever the reason, he _really_ didn't want to go. Being stuck at home with his evil babysitter was infinitely preferable to a fifteen minute hospital visit, in his mind.

"Twerp, I don't want to hear it!" Vicky finally snapped at him, her pink eyes vibrant and angry as she glared into his bright blue ones. "We're going to get you checked out, end of story! Now quit fighting me on this and do what I say!"

Timmy flinched at her tone; partly because of how loud and angry she'd suddenly become, and partly because his babysitter sounded... Different somehow. This wasn't her usual anger, where she'd yell at him to do his chores and take a fair amount of enjoyment or pleasure out of it. Somehow, _this_ anger was... Well, serious. "A-Alright..." He conceded sheepishly as he rose to his feet, then spun around and made for the backdoor, disappearing into the house once he reached it.

"Rrgh...!" Vicky growled as soon as she saw the back door close, her body bristling with annoyance. "What the Hell kinda question is that?! 'Why?' Why not?! Frickin' kid could've drowned if not for me!" She closed her eyes, trying to ignore a certain gnawing thought at the back of her mind. "...So I pushed him into the pool, it's not _my_ fault the little Twerp can't swim! It's _his_ fault for not _telling_ me he can't swim! ...Or at least his parents'." The red-head blew out a puff of air, blowing a lock of her soaked hair out of her eyes. "...Dammit all. Now I need to figure out some kind of story for _how_ he almost drowned... Better make sure Timmy knows what to say too... Why can't I ever just have a nice, relaxing day?!" Vicky shouted at no one in particular, then made her way over to the backdoor, same as Timmy had; and disappeared into the house.


	2. Chapter 2

"Mngh..." Timmy half-moaned, half-whined in impatience as he sat on the examination table in the small, cold room. Currently, he was in one of the examination rooms of the pediatric wing of Dimmsdale General Hospital, awaiting a 'quick' check-up from a doctor.

Vicky had decided against bringing him to the emergency room, and instead had opted to simply bring him where he was now; though she made sure to tell him that his falling in the pool had in no way been her fault, the older girl telling him that if the doctor _did_ ask what happened, he was to explain that he'd been running around the edge of the pool, and had slipped in due to the edge being wet.

A slight shiver ran up the brunet's spine, causing his gaze to drop to his pink t-shirt, now hung over the back of the chair next to the table he was sitting on. The intern who led him to the room had been the one to suggest that he take it off, explaining that since the doctor was more than likely going to listen to his lungs with a stethoscope, the shirt would only get in the way. Why on _Earth_ the hospital was so cold, however; Timmy hadn't the slightest idea.

"Hah... Should've just wished that I didn't have to go, or something..." The eleven year old sighed, hanging his head as he kicked his feet back and forth in the air. The thought of doing so _had_ crossed his mind, but upon telling his fairy godmother, Wanda; about how he'd nearly drowned, she too had insisted that he go and get checked out, somehow completely missing the fact that _Vicky_ was the _reason_ he'd nearly drowned! "Argh... C'mon already! Hurry up and get this over with so I can just go home-"

 _Knock-Knock!_

A pair of knocking sounds on the exam room's hard wooden door reverberated in the small room, causing Timmy to jump in surprise at the noise. "Ah-! Uh... C-Come in...?"

The handle of the door slowly turned, and the door itself was pushed open, revealing a blonde-haired woman in a white doctor's coat, which itself was indistinguishable from a lab coat in Timmy's eyes. Beneath the coat she wore light blue scrubs, and for footwear, bright, nearly neon-green crocs. To the brunet, she didn't quite fit the mental image he'd formed of a doctor, and were it not for the clothes; he'd never guess that she was one in the first place.

For starters, she looked _far_ too young to be a doctor. By Timmy's guess, she couldn't have been more than a couple years older than Vicky, if that. Her blonde hair was rather short, not quite reaching her shoulders, but it was somehow... A bit unprofessional. It framed her face rather well, and was styled in such a way to give her bangs, making her look even more youthful than she already did. Next, her skin was fair, not dissimilar to Vicky's, though she had more freckles on her cheeks than the red-head, and finally, her eyes were a deep shade of blue, one that instantly made him think of the ocean, as they were a much deeper blue than his own. "'Sup." The blonde waved in an almost dismissive manner, giving Timmy a quick once over with her eyes as she did.

"Uh... N-Not much...?" The boy awkwardly returned the wave, quirking an eyebrow up at the girl, who not only didn't seem _old enough_ to be a doctor, but didn't even seem _professional enough_ to be one. A quick glance at her mouth did little more than confirm this feeling, as he noticed she was chewing a pink wad of bubblegum, the scent of which was quickly pervading the small room.

Again, she looked him over, this time more slowly; eventually turning her head to the left to look at his shirt, still hung over the back of the chair. "...You hot or something?"

"Hm? Wha-Oh!" The brunet blushed self-consciously, scratching at his nose with his index finger out of habit. "Th-The um... The girl who told me to w-wait in here said... You might need to... Check my breathing with your... Uh... The thing around your neck...?" Timmy raised his right arm, index finger pointed toward the stethoscope hanging around the blonde's neck.

"Oh... Okay. That makes sense, actually." The blonde doctor chuckled quietly and shook her head a few times. "I was worried for a second there, figured you were just weird... Now, let me see... I need..." She patted her lab coat, seemingly feeling about for something as her hands moved lower, checking the coat's pockets. "Your chart... Where-Oh!" She stepped forward and closed the door behind her, then spun around to face said door, pulling the hanging clipboard out of the small cubby-like box attached to it. "Hm... Timmy Turner-" The odd girl spun back around to face Timmy, quickly looking up from the clipboard in her hands. "Right?"

"Ye-Um... Yeah." The boy nodded in the affirmative, his voice cautious and low. Was this strange girl _really_ his doctor? Was she even a doctor in the first place? She certainly didn't _seem_ like one, and Timmy honestly wasn't sure if he was supposed to feel more or _less_ at ease from that observation.

"Well Timmy, it's nice to meet you. My name's Heather, Heather Mason." The now named blonde looked back down at Timmy's patient chart, breaking eye contact with the boy.

"So... You're Doctor Mason, then?" The brunet questioned, wondering why the girl would give her first and last name, rather than just use 'Doctor' Mason, like most doctors tended to.

"Nope!" Heather responded with a cheery smile as she looked up from the clipboard again.

"Wha... Y-You're _not_ a doctor?" Timmy questioned with an audible gulp, his eyes widening at the girl's rather casual admission. "B-But what about... The coat? A-And the... Scrubs? Is that what they're called? What about t-those?" He finally looked her white coat up and down more closely, realizing that, while it did have 'Dimmsdale General' stitched into the upper right side, there was no nametag pinned to the coat, though the right breast pocket did contain a couple of pens and a pair of eyeglasses; very doctor-like things to have in a lab coat's breast pocket.

"Because Kaufman can't get up off his fat, lazy a- ... _Butt_ , and do _his_ job himself." Heather responded in an annoyed tone of voice, narrowing her eyes a little at no one in particular.

"Er... Kaufman?" The brunet queried, tilting his head slightly.

"Hmph... My boss. _He's_ thepediatric specialist around here, but he's always too busy working on 'projects'-" The blonde girl used air quotes. "-To do any actual doctoring! So, of course, that means _I_ usually have to do everything. Get his lunch and coffee, fill out patient reports, request supplies for his dumb projects... He even gives me his coat to wear, but didn't bother getting me a nametag for it!" She huffed as she finished, feeling somewhat satisfied that she was able to just voice her concerns for once, even if it was just to a random patient. "Ugh, sorry. It's just annoying... Anyway... You slipped into the pool?" She flipped one of the papers on the clipboard over as she spoke.

"Uhm... Y-Yeah... I didn't realize the edge was so slippery, and I was... Running around near it. My foot slipped, and I fell into the deep end. And seeing as how I can't swim, I pretty much sank to the bottom and nearly drowned... At least, that's what my babysitter told me. I guess I must've gotten knocked out or something, because when I woke up, Vicky was giving me..." Timmy trailed off, his cheeks turning a bright shade of scarlet now that he'd had the chance to collect his thoughts, and realized just _what_ Vicky would've had to do to him after pulling him out of the pool. "Eh... CPR..."

"Vicky?" Heather looked up from the clipboard again, her right eyebrow raised questioningly.

"M-My babysitter. She told me she p-pulled me out of the w-water after I fell in. I guess she... Um..." The brunet fidgeted in his seat, his cheeks warm from the blood rushing to them.

"Ah... I see what you're saying..." A knowing grin appeared on the blonde's face as her mind quickly put the pieces of the puzzle together. "So... This 'Vicky'... What's she look like? ...She cute?"

"Huh?!" Timmy, completely taken aback by the girl's question; shot her a horrified look. "Wha- What kind of question is _that_?! H-How could you think _Vicky_ is cute?! She's evil! And mean to me all the time... And Icky!"

Heather raised a curious eyebrow at the brunet as he raised his voice. His sudden, defensive outburst intrigued her somewhat, along with the term he used to describe his apparently 'evil' babysitter. "Icky, huh? ...Granted, I don't exactly _know_ this girl, but..." She hung the clipboard back up on the door and lifted the stethoscope off her neck, then walked over to stand in front of the boy; bending over slightly to look him in the eye. "As bad as you might think she is, she _did_ pull you out of the pool, _and_ gave you CPR..." She pressed the end of the stethoscope to the left side of Timmy's chest. "Deep breath."

Timmy did as instructed, inhaling a deep breath through his mouth, and letting it back out soon after. "So? What's it matter? She's still mean to me, she even brought me here after I nearly _begged_ her not to!"

"Look, I get that you're young- 'Nother deep breath." The blonde paused to listen to Timmy's breathing on the right side of his chest. "...But where I'm from, even if someone's been a total jerk to you all the time you've known them, if that person saves your life- Again." She pressed the stethoscope to left side of Timmy's back, again checking if his breathing was normal. "It should go a long way toward forgiving them... Or at least cutting them some slack. One more." Again, she checked his breathing, this time pressing the stethoscope to the right side of his back.

"But... But I _do_ try to cut her some slack. She's just so... Icky, all the time. And... And it's not like she saved me because she cares. She just did it so she could keep babysitting me and charging my parents crazy amounts of money _to_ babysit me..." The brunet hung his head sadly, realizing he was fighting a losing battle, as even people Vicky _didn't_ know seemed to believe she wasn't as bad as he _knew_ she was.

"If she's really that bad, why put up with her? There _are_ other babysitters in Dimmsdale you know." Hanging the stethoscope back around her neck, the blonde not-doctor known as Heather turned away from Timmy and grabbed the clipboard holding his chart again.

"Well... It's... Kind of complicated. My parents think she's the sweetest person they've ever met, and she can act... Boy can she act..." Timmy remarked wistfully, wondering how exactly someone as young as Vicky could be so good at acting completely the opposite of how she really was.

"I'll bet it is..." Heather rolled her eyes, assuming there was a bit more to the boy's story than he was willing to let on. "Meh. I can't really tell you what to do one way or the other. Seems to me that even as bad as you _claim_ Vicky is, you'd still rather deal with her than just get a new babysitter... Mm... How 'bout this? She's in the waiting room, right?" She waited until Timmy nodded 'yes', before continuing. "When you get out there, go over to her, and thank her for saving your life. Play it up if you have to, just like she does with the acting. I'm not saying turn on the waterworks or anything, but be... Spontaneous. Catch her off guard, and maybe she'll surprise you in turn somewhere down the line."

Timmy adopted a contemplative pose, bringing his right hand up to cup his chin as his left held up his right arm. After several seconds of thought, he let out another sigh, closing his eyes and shaking his head back and forth. "Well... I guess I've got nothing to lose..."

"Just your pride." The blonde teased with a smirk, earning her a flat, unimpressed look from the brunet.

"No, I'm pretty sure Vicky has contractual ownership of _that_ too." Timmy deadpanned sarcastically, bringing a slight chuckle out of Heather.

"Heh... She sounds like a blast to be around. At any rate, your lungs sound fine to me, though if I were you, I'd avoid the deep end of the pool... And pretty much all bodies of deep water, until I learned to swim. Doubt Vicky's gonna be there to give you mouth to mouth _every_ time..." She shot the boy a teasing grin, causing his cheeks to once again redden in embarrassment. "Hehehe! Alright, you're free to go and enjoy the rest of your day. _Hopefully_ I won't have to see you again... Well, not here, anyway." With that, the blonde pulled the door open and left, shutting it behind her as Timmy reached for his shirt and put it back on.

"Well..." The boy hopped off the examination table, smoothing out his shirt as his feet hit the floor. "I guess that could've gone worse..." He left the room, making his way down the hall and past several other exam rooms as he journeyed back to the waiting area. He passed the reception desk, noticing the girl sitting at it was absorbed in typing something up on the computer; then made his way over to Vicky, easily recognizing his babysitter behind the magazine she was reading due to her bright red hair, though the fact that she was the only person in the waiting room certainly helped.

"All set?" She questioned in a bored tone of voice right as he stepped in front of her, lowering her magazine to show a facial expression that matched her tone perfectly; her eyes half-lidded, and her lips forming a thin, neutral line. Evidently her magazine hadn't provided much of a distraction from the long wait she had to endure.

"Yeah, she just told me to avoid deep water until I... Um... Learn to swim." The brunet relayed Heather's message, watching as the red-head tossed her magazine to the side and stood up from the chair, stretching her arms up over her head and cracking her stiff neck.

"And you told her _exactly_ how you fell in, right, Twerp?" Vicky winked as she spoke, hoping her charge would pick up on the less-than-subtle inflection in her tone, if not the wink on its own.

"Uh-Huh. I said I slipped while running around the pool." Timmy nodded, doing his best to will away an odd, tense feeling in his stomach.

"You did, huh? ...Good. Glad I can count on you for _some_ things, kid." She smirked down at Timmy, but this soon faded and was replaced by a curious look as the boy continued to stand in her way, coming close to boxing her in between himself and the chair she'd been sitting in. "Something... You wanna say? I _would_ like to get outta here, you know..." It was fairly obvious to her that the brunet had _something_ on his mind...

"I-Um... I just wanted to..." The eleven year old blushed, bringing his right hand up to rub the back of his head. "To say... Th-Thank... You? F-For-Um..."

"For...?" The older girl twirled her hand in the air in a rotating motion, her impatience getting the better of her as Timmy stammered and stuttered in front of her. She briefly looked up toward the receptionist, noticing that she was still busily typing away and not really paying attention to the two of them. "C'mon, Twerp... What are you-Nnf." Vicky cut her sentence short, interrupting it with a quiet grunt as she felt something collide with her abdomen, along with two _other_ somethings looping around her hips, more precisely; her butt.

The red-head slowly directed her gaze back down at her charge, her eyes widening as they locked on to the top of Timmy's pink hat, and thus, his head. For several seconds, she could do little but frown at him in confusion; his hair tickling her belly thanks to the midriff-baring nature of her t-shirt. It was only after roughly thirty seconds of awkward silence had passed that Vicky was able to find her voice, though she thankfully had the presence of mind to whisper.

"What the Hell are you doing?!" Quiet as her voice now was, the seventeen year old still managed to have so sharp a tone that it easily cut through the silence of the waiting room, making Timmy flinch against her, though he did not pull away. "H-Hey! Are you listening?! L-Let go, Twerp!" Again, she spoke in a hushed voice, settling her hands on either of the brunet's shoulders and giving him a gentle push, though the grip of his arms around her lean form remained strong. She looked up again, feeling eyes on her; and realized that the receptionist was now looking at the two of them, a wide smile on her face at the cute scene unfolding a few feet away from her.

Vicky shot back with a smile of her own, adopting the sugary facade that she used when dealing with the parents of the kids she babysat. "Heehee! He's not a fan of hospitals or doctors, he usually gets clingy like this, even when he _knows_ we're going home!" She made sure to place emphasis on 'knows', hoping Timmy would again pick up on her tone. When that failed, she continued smiling at the receptionist, but began mumbling through her gritted teeth. "I'm _serious_ , Twerp! Let go! Why are you being so _clingy_ all of a sudden?!"

Timmy mumbled against Vicky, feeling too embarrassed to show his burning face.

"Wha- What? I can't- S-Speak up! Or let go already! This is-! It's weird!" The older teen again whispered out harshly, doing her best to get the brunet to listen to her without drawing any unwanted attention from the receptionist.

At last, Timmy looked up, his face still feeling like it was on fire; and started to speak. "I... I just... Um... I wanted you to know that I'm... Th-Thank you for saving me when I... Fell in the pool." The boy studied his babysitter's face carefully, noticing that, while she looked well _beyond_ confused, her anger had apparently faded. "And I... Well... I don't really know _how_ to show my appreciation other than... This?" He tightened his grip ever so slightly, pressing his face against her abdomen again to hide his blush.

"Aw... Sounds like you've got a rescue romance on your hands!" The receptionist, a girl that Vicky guessed was probably in her early twenties; teased jokingly, giggling at the seventeen year old's predicament.

Vicky played along outwardly, laughing at the receptionist's joke before shaking her head. _"Oh god, shut your stupid face right now..."_ She once again turned her attention to Timmy, this time giving his shoulders a slight squeeze. "C'mon, Timmy..." She spoke louder now, her tone warm and sugary sweet, making the boy look up at her. "If you let go, I'll... We can-Um..." She trailed off, wondering what someone a _lot_ nicer than her would offer to try and bribe Timmy. "...Get... Ice cream?" Vicky questioned in an unsure tone, gauging the boy's reaction and feeling relief wash over her as his blue eyes lit up, his grip on her slackening considerably before he finally released her and took a few steps back.

"Really?!" The brunet asked excitedly, a wide smile forming on his face as he temporarily forgot this was _Vicky_ he was talking to.

" _Crap."_ The girl mentally deadpanned, realizing she'd have to continue her little act, at least until they were out of the waiting area. "O-Of course! Let's just _go_ already!" She grabbed Timmy's shoulders again and spun him around to face the exit door of the waiting area, then gently pushed him along, past the reception desk(and the giggly girl sitting behind it). "Bye, thanks for seeing him on such short notice!" Vicky called over her shoulder, then hung her head and sighed in relief as she and Timmy came to the exit door. "Finally, we can go-"

"Hold on just a sec!" A distinctly female voice yelled from near the reception desk, making both Timmy and Vicky freeze in place. "Don't I know you... Icky Vicky?" The voice questioned in a sly manner, making her recognition of the seventeen year old all the more apparent.

The red-head felt her skin crawl at her unwanted nickname, an uncomfortable shiver running up her spine.

Timmy peeked around his babysitter, her gaze still locked on the door behind him; instantly recognizing the blonde doctor he'd met just a few minutes earlier, though her white coat was nowhere to be seen, leaving her in just her blue scrubs. "Vicky? Do you... Know her...?"


	3. Chapter 3

"Didn't turn into the strong, silent type or something, did ya?" The blonde not-quite-doctor known as Heather quickly made her way over to Timmy and Vicky, stopping just behind the red-head; a wide grin plastered across her face. "So you're still babysitting, huh?" She leaned forward slightly, her hands balled into fists on her hips as she curiously raised an eyebrow at the seventeen year old. "Hello~... Earth to Vicky~" Heather cast her blue-eyed gaze down toward Timmy. "Hey, how's my _best_ friend treating you, hm? Y'know, aside from the mouth-to-mou-Hm?" The blonde was suddenly silenced as Vicky spun around and slapped her hand over her mouth.

"Not a word, Twerp!" Vicky glared daggers at the brunet, whose mouth quickly clammed up on seeing his babysitter's threatening look. "And as for you..." The seventeen year old turned her attention to her 'friend', narrowing her eyes at her just as threateningly as she'd done with Timmy. "What the _Hell_ are _you_ doing here?"

Heather glanced down at her still covered mouth, then shot the red-head an expectant look, briefly humming against Vicky's hand.

Despite her better judgment telling her to scoop Timmy up and run out of the hospital as quickly as possible, Vicky moved her hand off the blonde's mouth, allowing her to speak.

"I work here, obviously." She responded in a matter-of-fact tone, gesturing with her left hand at the scrubs she wore. "See? Intern Heather Ma-" She paused as she felt the upper left-hand side of her shirt, remembering her lack of a nametag. "Er... Well I have a stethoscope right here-" Moving her right hand up to her neck, she felt around, realizing that, as her shift had just ended; she was no longer wearing it. "Ehehe... Forgot, I'm already outta here. Um..." Once more, she looked down at Timmy. "Oh!" She reached out toward the brunet, grasping his shoulder and pulling him over to stand next to her. " _He'll_ vouch for me! I just saw him a couple minutes ago!"

Timmy looked up at Heather in confusion, then over to Vicky, his eyes shifting back and forth between the two girls every couple of seconds. They clearly knew each other(odd in itself due to him assuming that Vicky didn't have any friends), but while this 'doctor', Heather; was evidently pretty excited to see his babysitter, Vicky apparently didn't share that sentiment for the blonde. If anything, she seemed somewhat on edge, with her arms crossed over her chest, and the corners of her lips dipping to form a slight frown. "Um-" Timmy began, only to fall silent again as Vicky started to speak.

"First off, _this_ -" The red-head reached for Timmy's left hand with her right, grasping it and pulling him back over to her side. "-Is mine." She was quick to release the boy's hand as she crossed her arms again, taking a small step to her right so her leg was ever so slightly in front of the eleven year old. "Second, obviously I _know_ you work here, Smartass."

"Ooh... Still as possessive and fiery as ever, huh Vicky?" Heather grinned at the girl, bending her arms and bringing them up behind her head before clasping the fingers of each hand together. "So _he_ must be your latest... Victim?"

"D-Don't change the subject! Last time I saw you was a few weeks after you graduated form Dimmsdale High! How are you already an intern here?!" The seventeen year old very nearly shouted, earning her a confused look from the receptionist, who quickly shrugged it off and went back to typing at her computer.

"Ugh..." Heather rolled her eyes dramatically. "More sexual favors than I can count... I am _still_ sore..." She shook her head as she finished, then quickly followed it by closing her eyes and tilting her head a bit, a lopsided grin on her face. "Heehee! Just kidding, V. Dad put in a good word for me with the chief of medicine."

"I'd prefer you call me _Vicky_ , Heather..." Vicky growled out, her impatience growing with each new nickname the blonde bestowed upon her.

"And I'm sure your Twerp there would prefer you call him Timmy, don't ya think?"

Never before had Timmy seen anyone that could make their face look like the little kitty face emoji that people occasionally sent via texting with their phones, but Heather was making a valiant effort to make that exact face as she tilted her head at Vicky. Part of him was almost _waiting_ for her to add a 'Meow' to the end of her last sentence, or raise one of her hands in a pawing motion.

"I'll call him whatever I want!" The red-head shot back in an almost petulant tone, again making sure she was somewhat between Heather and Timmy.

"I think I'll do the same to you then, Red." The blonde spoke in a playful, teasing tone, taking visible delight in poking the sleeping dragon that was Vicky's temper.

"Rrgh..." The seventeen year old's cheeks flushed red, more with anger than embarrassment; as she growled at the girl in front of her. "Wh-Whatever! I need to get _him_ home, and in case you forgot, I _hate_ hospitals! Is there something you _actually_ want, or can I get going already?!"

"Hm..." Heather adopted a contmeplative pose not unlike the one Timmy had a few minutes earlier when he was in the exam room with her, though hers was more for effect than anything else. "Oh!" She exclaimed with a snap of her fingers. "I remember now! I was gonna ask why you haven't kept in contact! You don't call, you don't text or visit me... Hell, I'd have been happy if you just _wrote_ me a letter now and then... What gives, Victoria?" She finished with a pout, sticking her lower lip out a little.

"I haven't kept in contact because you were a _giant_ pain in my ass all through high school, and apparently _still_ are!" Vicky responded in a venomous tone, earning her a _very_ surprised stare from the receptionist, though the girl in front of her appeared largely unaffected.

"Oh... Now don't be like that, V. I'm happy to see you is all!" Heather winked, still grinning at the red-head, then reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone. "C'mon, let's hang out sometime. You choose the time and place... You can even bring your boyfriend!" She nodded down at Timmy, whose hand was now once again in Vicky's, as she'd grabbed it upon announcing that she had to get him home.

"He's _eleven_!" Vicky shouted in a noticeably higher pitch as her cheeks turned a bright shade of scarlet at what the blonde was implying.

"I'm a firm believer that age is just a number, no worries." Heather replied nonchalantly, making the pink-eyed girl in front of her facepalm in a combination of disgust and annoyance. "So, your cell number?"

"I'm not telling you shi-" Vicky paused, biting her tongue as she remembered _who_ was still holding her hand. "...Squat."

Meanwhile, Timmy continued to watch the admittedly odd spectacle between the two older girls play out, his brain struggling to understand just _why_ Vicky was so on edge around this 'Heather' person. Physically, she wasn't all that different from Vicky. They were about the same height, looked to be pretty close in terms of weight(though Heather looked to be just _slightly_ less lean than Vicky), and even shared the same relatively light-pale complexion, though again, Heather seemed to have more in the way of freckles than Vicky did.

As for personality, the only real difference was that Heather was more playful with her teasing, seemingly treating it as all in good fun, while Vicky tended to tease in such a way that had a certain... Bite to it. Though he supposed she was a lot worse back when he was ten than she was now...

"Come on... It's not gonna kill you to reconnect with an old friend..." Heather offered, her voice snapping the brunet back to reality as he looked up at his babysitter, just in time to hear her sigh in resignation.

"Hah... Fine. If _only_ because having someone around who works in the medical field _might_ be beneficial to me down the line..." The red-head fished around in her pocket, eventually producing her phone and handing it over to Heather so she could take down her number. Once her phone was returned to her, Vicky slipped it back into her pocket, shooting the blonde an annoyed look as she pointed her index finger at her in a way that was clearly _supposed_ to be threatening. " _Don't_ think this changes anything. You're still on... A probationary period until either _I_ come to my senses or _you_ go a long way toward... Toward... Not being a pain in the butt!" With that, Vicky spun around to face the exit door and strode over to it, yanking it open and leaving the waiting room with Timmy in tow as the door slowly shut behind them.

"'Kay! Later Vicky!" Heather called after them in a cheery tone of voice, offering a quick wave to the brunet as he looked back upon hearing her voice, followed by him returning the wave in kind. "Bye Timmy!" Once the door was shut, the blonde turned around to face the reception desk, the girl behind it giving her a quizzical stare. "We're old friends, her and I." She chuckled as she finished, realizing how absolutely ridiculous her interaction with Vicky made that sentence sound as she passed the desk and headed for the staff locker room.

 _Outside..._

"Um... Vicky?" Timmy hesitantly spoke up as his babysitter quickly made her way out of the hospital's main entrance doors, making a bee-line for her car.

Yet the red-head seemingly paid him no mind, her expression twisted into a slight scowl.

"Mngh... V-Vicky...?" The boy gave his hand, still in the older girl's grip; a weak tug, trying in vain to get her to slow down a little. "Vicky-"

"What?!" She turned around suddenly, snapping at the brunet just as they arrived at her car.

"Um!" Timmy flinched, visibly shrinking back at her tone. "I was just... Y'know... Gonna ask if you could slow down... Just a little. You're still holding my hand, so..."

Vicky's gaze fell to her right hand, still firmly grasping Timmy's. After a few pensive seconds, she slowly released his hand, then paused for a moment, seemingly looking him over, though for what reason, Timmy wasn't sure. "...Come on." She turned away, walking around her car to the driver's side and getting in, starting the car only after Timmy got in on the passenger side and shut the door.

Another awkward silence fell over the two, broken ever so briefly by the brunet as he buckled his seatbelt, only to return as the boy settled his hands at his sides, the only audible noise now being the slight purring hum of the car's engine. Part of Timmy told him he was supposed to say something, and this feeling was only driven home further as Vicky began to impatiently drum her fingers along the top of the steering wheel, her gaze cast far to her left, away from her charge.

"Urgh... Would you just-!" She suddenly turned her head, her pink eyes glaring down at Timmy, making him feel even smaller than his eleven year old frame already was. "Just ask already! I know you want to know _all_ about Heather and why I... Just froze up like... Like an idiot back there..." Vicky sighed, turning away from Timmy as the look in her eyes softened considerably. Though she looked more tired than strictly apologetic.

"Well... A-Actually... I was just gonna ask if you're... Okay?" The brunet questioned in a nervous tone, as by now, he was all too familiar with how Vicky would twist genuine sympathy from him into pity. And she _hated_ being pitied. It got to the point where he would rarely _ever_ ask her how she was doing when she appeared stressed or frustrated, as such questions usually guaranteed that he'd either have to do a _particularly_ long list of chores, or worse; something extremely demeaning. Usually involving a certain maid outfit.

On the plus side, she _was_ usually in a better mood afterward.

The red-head scoffed at his question, taking a moment to slightly shake her head with a wistful smile, then released a long, slow huff of air through her nose. "...What do you honestly think of me, Timmy?"

"Huh?" He tilted his head a little, quirking an eyebrow up in surprise at her response. He'd expected something... More dismissive than that. A 'humph' of indifference at the very least. What he most certainly _didn't_ expect was for her to answer his question with one of her own... Or for her to _actually_ call him by his name, for that matter. "What do I... Think of you? Like... How?"

"Hah..." Another sigh escaped the seventeen year old's lips as she hung her head. "Right, you're still pretty young... Let me be more direct..." She turned to face Timmy, her expression strangely neutral; bearing no hints of anger or her usual teasing nature. "Do you hate me?"

" _Hate_ you?" Timmy asked incredulously, somewhat taken aback by his babysitter's question. It was true that, for a time, he thought she was the worst person in the world. The self-proclaimed 'evil babysitter' wasn't exactly the person he expected when he called her phone number roughly three years ago, with his youthful naivete getting the better of him and even making him think they could be _friends_ , and from ages eight to ten it was almost impossible for him to even _think_ of her as anything _but_ evil...

But then, it was only thanks to her that he met Cosmo and Wanda, easily the two best people to have come into his life. He'd had countless adventures with them, seen faraway lands, gone to distant time periods, met creatures and villains far more evil than Vicky could ever truly be, and even saved the world a few times... Multiple worlds, in fact.

And in Timmy's minds, this all came back to one thing. A single, desperate phone call he'd made that completely changed his life for the better. Meeting Cosmo and Wanda was easily the best thing that had ever happened to him, and without Vicky... Who's to say everything he'd been through could have ever happened? In a strange, twisted sense, _Vicky_ was the whole reason his life had changed for the better.

The sudden realization utterly shocked the boy, as until this very moment, the events had never appeared so... Clear. So bizarrely _perfect_. Had he really been so blind to the effects this girl had on his life?

"...Y'know, much as I like sitting around in my car, waiting for you to respond... This _is_ kind of an important question, Twerp. L-Look, I'm not gonna be... _Too_ mad if you say that you do, but... C'mon, I _need_ to know one way or the other here..." Vicky trailed off, the tiniest hint of sorrow evident in her tone.

"W-Well no, I don't... _Hate_ you..." Timmy at least responded, surprising both himself because he was actually able to _say_ the words, and Vicky because it honestly wasn't the response she'd expected.

The red-head felt a weight lift off her shoulders as a bit of genuine relief washed over her, though she wasn't quite sure as to why. Whether Timmy hated her or not really _shouldn't_ have mattered to her, yet somehow, hearing that he didn't just felt... Really good. In a way she just couldn't describe. _"_ _Hmph. Seeing Heather again has got me all screwed up or something..."_ She thought to herself, sitting up straight in her seat.

"But..." Timmy began to speak again, causing the older teen to look over at him. "I _do_ wi-" He caught himself, remembering that using 'I wish' so casually wasn't exactly the best idea. "...It'd be... Y'know, nice if you could take a break from being... Well, Vicky? Just now and then?" The boy asked in a hopeful tone as he nervously tapped his index fingers together.

The red-head let out another small scoff at Timmy's request, putting her car into reverse and backing out of the space it was in, before shifting it into drive and quickly weaving through several rows of cars toward the hospital parking lot's exit. "Now why on _Earth_ would I do that? Act like _not_ me?" She turned her head to look down at her charge, raising her right eyebrow at him in a questioning manner. "What are you tryin' to say, Twerp? Aren't I your _favorite_ babysitter...?"

"W-Well I... I mean, you're my _only_ babysitter, so..." Timmy trailed off, remembering how Vicky had reacted to his unexpected hug, and wondering if being nice to her in a similarly unexpected manner would work again. _"Can't hurt to try..."_ "I-I guess you're my... Favorite...?" He answered questioningly, gauging her reaction to the compliment.

"That's a good answer, kid... But if I _am_ your favorite... Then you should be happy with me just the way I am, don't ya think?" Vicky responded with a sly smile as she stopped the car at the parking lot's exit. She wasn't nearly as naïve as Timmy evidently thought she was. He was _clearly_ trying to butter her up, as the hug had made her a bit suspicious, and his agreeing with her about her being his favorite babysitter, despite what she tended to put him through, all but confirmed it.

The question was, _why_ was he doing it? What possible change could have taken place that actually made him _want_ to be nice to her? _"The only thing that's really happened is..."_ Memories of earlier that day flashed in the red-head's mind, of her pushing Timmy into the pool, of him sinking toward the bottom, and of the genuine worry she felt when she laid him down on the ground after pulling him out and realizing he wasn't breathing. _"Is it because I saved him? It was my fault he nearly drowned in the first place! ...Kind of."_

"I- W-Well... I guess so..." The boy spoke up, his voice snapping Vicky from her reverie.

"Alright then, so you're happy with me just the way I am, Timmy?" She changed her tone slightly, doing her best to come off as a bit more friendly toward the brunet than she usually did, though something about speaking to Timmy like this colored her cheeks with the slightest tinge of pink.

"Y-Yes?" He wasn't sure why, but Timmy couldn't help but feel like the tables had been turned on him by his babysitter. While earlier it had been _him_ catching _her_ off guard; the tone she was using now, one that sounded somewhat similar to the sweet voice she used with his parents; made him feel... Strange. His heart felt like it was beating a little faster, and his body felt... Weirdly warm, almost as if he had a fever.

" _That_ sounded convincing..." Vicky deadpanned with a roll of her eyes and smirked, then turned right out of the parking lot, pressing her car's accelerator to the floor with her foot as she saw there weren't any cars in front of her on the long, straight road.

"Er... Vicky? You're-Um... You're going the wrong way... The house is back that way...?" Timmy shot the older girl a quizzical look, gesturing back the way they came with his thumb.

"Mm-hm. But if memory serves... I said I'd take you out to get some ice cream, didn't I?" She grinned and turned to face Timmy as she finished, a giggle escaping her as she saw him gape at her in surprise, his blue eyes wide and practically sparkling at what he'd just heard. _"Heh... Cute little Twerp..."_

* * *

A/N: Now the question is, how big do I want Heather's role in the story to be...? Can't have an OC take the spotlight, but... Hm... Decisions, decisions... :D


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: And now, a chapter that will make you crave ice cream. Granted I don't know how many random ice cream stands can be found on the outskirts of Dimmsdale, but there's at least one up here where I live, so... Yeah.

* * *

"Hm... One..." Vicky shifted her weight from one foot to the other as she stood in front of the small building that served as an ice cream stand, her eyes focused on and scanning the menu above her head as the cashier behind the window she stood before patiently waited for her order. She didn't frequent the stand anywhere _near_ often enough to know the dark-haired male teen, but she figured he probably went to the same high school as her, since they were still on the outskirts of Dimmsdale.

The red-head glanced to her right, catching sight of Timmy as he too waited patiently for her return, busying himself with what she assumed was some game on his phone. _"...Why didn't I think to ask him what he wanted when we were in the car...?"_ Vicky shook her head, knowing that even if she _had_ asked Timmy what he wanted, he probably would've chosen something small to avoid seeming like he was taking advantage of her generosity. "Just... Gimme a banana split, I guess. ...And a pink lemonade." The girl reached into her pocket, producing a ten dollar bill and handing it to the cashier, then took her change and drink, pocketing the money before opening the bottle of juice and taking a sip of the cool, refreshing beverage. "I'll just be over there." She indicated to the teenage cashier with a point of her finger at the table Timmy occupied, earning her a quick nod of understanding as she made her way over to said table. "So..." Vicky began, only to trail off and fall silent as she sat down across from Timmy and leaned on her elbow, propping her head up in her hand.

"So?" The brunet parroted back at his babysitter in a relatively even-sounding tone, none of the usual wariness or fear when talking to the older girl in his voice, for once.

"You... Wanna tell me what was up with... That _thing_ you did back in the waiting room at the hospital?" Vicky chose her words carefully, knowing her and Timmy's history when it came to hugging. What had happened at the hospital had been only the second time in the three or so years that she'd known the boy that he'd hugged her, and technically it was the first, since she had been the one to initiate the first one.

Even then, it wasn't so much an affectionate hug back then as it was one that was absolutely necessary, or so she made sure to remind herself whenever her thoughts went back to that day. They'd have more than likely frozen to death had they not huddled together, and there most certainly hadn't been anything more to it... _"But today..."_ Vicky thought to herself as she watched Timmy's cheeks visibly redden at her question, his gaze dropping down to his lap to avoid making eye contact with her.

"I-It's like I said..." The brunet gulped somewhat loudly, barely mustering up the courage to continue. "I don't... Really know how else to thank you for saving me when I... When I nearly drowned, so... I mean, I don't exactly have a lot of money I can give you, and I don't even know if I have anything you'd want... It just... Seemed like the best idea I had at the time." He shrugged as he finished, the redness on his cheeks beginning to fade. "It... Wasn't _bad_ or anything, right?"

" _Aside from the part where at first, I thought you were trying to feel up my butt?"_ The red-head mused to herself, knowing that for one, Timmy was probably still too young to be thinking about feeling her up, and second, he'd only looped his arms around her waist like that because he was still a bit short for his age... Or maybe she was a bit tall for _her_ age. Either way, it didn't really matter. "I dunno how someone could give someone else a _bad_ hug... You just-Uh... Caught me off guard. ...A little." Vicky took another sip of lemonade as she finished. "But y'know... You only almost drowned because _I_ pushed you in..."

"Th-That... Well, it _is_ true, but..." Timmy admitted hesitantly, his memories from a few hours back reminding him of just _how close_ he'd come to drowning. "But you didn't know I c-can't swim, so..." He trailed off, briefly wondering if he'd heard genuine guilt for his babysitter's actions in her voice. "A-And besides, you _did_ save me after I fell in, you even gave me CPR-"

" _Ahem_!" The older teen suddenly cleared her throat, cutting Timmy off with a look that wasn't quite angry, but was still easy to be taken as her telling him to keep quiet. "Let's treat _that_ the same way we've been treating that time we both almost died in the avalanche, 'kay?"

"So... By never ever talking about it again?" The boy asked in what was quickly becoming his usual hesitant manner when talking to his babysitter.

"Exactly." Vicky remarked with a nod as she stood back up. "I'm gonna go check and see if your ice cream's ready."

Timmy watched her make her way back over to the front of the ice cream stand, his mind still trying to wrap itself around the fact that for once, Vicky didn't seem so bad. He doubted she'd turned over a new leaf in the course of a single afternoon, but so far, she wasn't being all that unpleasant or mean to him. She was even talking to him somewhat politely, and had kept her word in regards to getting him ice cream.

And all this only made him think back to the slightly strange, not-doctor, Heather. Who exactly was she to Vicky? And why did Vicky act so _weird_ around her? Timmy knew he'd never heard the red-head mention the girl before today, yet they seemed to know each other quite well, even if Vicky had spent most of their reunion being wary and trying to find an excuse to leave.

While it had most certainly been just a coincidence, the blonde _did_ give Timmy advice for dealing with his babysitter that had worked _far_ better than he could've expected. Vicky _had_ been caught off guard by the sudden show of affection from him, and while he'd expected her to yell at him afterward, or at the very least, take him straight home and send him to his room, they'd instead gone out for _ice_ _cream_. The very _idea_ made Timmy wonder if he was dreaming, and he'd taken the opportunity to pinch himself once they'd arrived at the stand a few minutes earlier, just to be sure.

" _I wonder if this is okay..."_ Timmy thought to himself as he chanced another look over at Vicky, who was now leaning against the wall that held the small window which looked into the interior of the ice cream stand. Part of him felt a bit bad, as the hug he'd given her hadn't exactly been honest. It was Heather who suggested he do something unexpected, and hugging the red-head had simply been the first thing that popped into his mind, but now he couldn't help but feel bad for it; it felt deceptive, somehow.

Of course, the seventeen year old was probably the _queen_ of deception herself, so it wasn't as if she didn't deserve a taste for her own medicine, but... "Ugh... Why is this bothering me so much?! She'd do the same thing, if she had the chance! Rrgh!" The brunet hung his head in frustration, rubbing at his temples with the middle and index fingers of each hand. _"Should I just_ try _and be nice to her? It's not like it'll kill me... And so far, she_ has _been... Kinda nice..."_

"You alright?" Vicky asked as she appeared rather suddenly, causing Timmy to jump in surprise.

"Ah... Y-Yeah, just... Thinking too much..." He spoke in an evasive tone, finally looking up at the older teen, only for his eyes to fall on a veritable mountain of ice cream that had been placed in front of him. Sitting in a large, plastic boat-shaped bowl were three big scoops of ice cream, one chocolate, one vanilla, and one strawberry, topped with chocolate syrup, _strawberry_ syrup, nuts, rainbow sprinkles, several cherries, and a banana, cut in half length-wise with a half resting on either side of the ice cream. To anyone else, it was a fairly impressive banana split. To Timmy? It was probably the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen in his short eleven years on planet Earth.

Something Vicky was able to easily pick up on as the brunet's eyes lit up for the second time that day, his mouth gaping wide in shock at the huge dessert sitting in front of him. "I-Uh... Forgot to ask you what you wanted in the car, and since I'm... Not exactly the most pleasant person to be around, most of the time... I figured... Y'know..." She felt a slight blush bloom on her cheeks as she spoke, the corners of lips tugging up into the tiniest of smirks. At first, she attributed it to how excited Timmy looked upon seeing the banana split, but deep down, she couldn't shake an odd feeling she got in her chest. It felt... Good, somehow. Rarely did she bother doing nice things for people, as most of the people she knew either didn't deserve it, or worse, were ungrateful scumbags after the fact.

Which is why she was even more surprised when Timmy, rather than simply digging into his dessert; stood up from the table and ran over to the window to talk to the cashier inside the stand. "What is he...?" She wondered aloud, shooting him a confused look as he ran back over to the table and sat down, then slid a second plastic spoon across it and over to her. "Wha-? For me? You... Wanna share?"

Once again, Vicky found herself caught off-guard today as Timmy nodded at her, the wide smile on his face warm enough to melt the polar ice caps. "There's no _way_ I can eat this all by myself!" The boy remarked excitedly as he unwrapped his spoon, then dug into the banana split, scooping up a hunk of ice cream that barely fit in the small plastic utensil. "Besides... It wouldn't feel right if I didn't share it with you, Vicky."

"Well... Alright, if you say so. I'm certainly not gonna turn down ice cream I paid for..." The older teen unwrapped her own spoon and reached out with it toward the banana split, stopping short as a certain aspect of the situation crossed her mind. He was doing it again; being nice to her out of the blue. _"But is he being nice because he thinks he can get me to be nice in return? Or... Is he_ just _being nice...?"_ She peeked around the right side of the dessert at Timmy, who was too preoccupied with enjoying his frozen treat to notice that she was staring at him. _"...I'll worry about it later."_ Vicky finally decided, the allure of the banana split too strong for her to ignore any longer as she joined Timmy and dug into it with her spoon.

 _A short while later..._

"Ah..." The red-head sighed contentedly as she finished the final spoonful of her and Timmy's shared dessert, the plastic bowl that had contained it now holding little more than Timmy's plastic spoon(soon joined by her own), and a few scant droplets of melted ice cream. She looked over at her charge, chuckling as she realized he'd eaten a little more than half of the banana split himself. _"Kid's gonna be up past midnight from all that sugar..."_ "You full, Twerp?"

"Yeah!" The brunet beamed at her happily, probably for the first time ever in the three-ish years she'd known him.

Sure, he'd been excited when she offered to take him to the ice cream stand, and the look on his face when she set the banana split down in front of him _had_ been priceless, but this was the first time that look had ever been directed specifically at _her_ , and it made her feel... Strange, just like before. Strange, but good.

"Thanks, Vicky!" He again shot her a warm smile, making her look away with a slight pink tint to her cheeks.

"D-Don't mention it... Like, _really_ don't. I've got my reputation to think about here, Twerp. And if you go around telling all your friends that I'm not... _Quite_ as evil as I usually act..." Vicky trailed off, the threat she'd formed in her mind toward the boy falling silent on her tongue. Did _all_ of their interactions _have_ to have a certain threatening undertone? "Look, just keep this between us and... Well, no promises, but _maybe_ I'll look the other way when it comes to you doing your chores... Or better yet, we could... Y'know, do something like this? Again?"

Timmy almost couldn't believe his ears. Not only had Heather's advice worked like a charm, it had worked _so_ much better than he could've expected! _"I just might have to hug Vicky more often!"_ He thought to himself, at the same time thinking his babysitter's offer over. The possibility of not having to do his chores would have been enough to sell him on the deal on its own, but the chance to get more banana splits, as well as some semblance of a friendship with his babysitter? He'd have to be absolutely crazy to turn this chance down! "Mm-hm!" Timmy rapidly nodded his head up and down, pinching his thumb and index finger together as he dragged them across his lips; formed into a wide grin. "I'll treat it just like the time we hugged in the avalanche!"

Vicky facepalmed, the irony of what the brunet had just said clearly lost on him. "Right. This totally won't come back to bite me in the butt later..." She muttered to herself, grabbing the empty bowl they'd been sharing as she slid out of her seat at the picnic table.

"H-Hey!" Timmy hopped out of his seat and began to follow after his babysitter, taking a moment to match her pace before he continued. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It _means_ you've got a big mouth, and I'm already getting a bad feeling about our little deal, Twerp." The older girl shook her head as she tossed the dessert bowl into the trash, then strode over to her car; Timmy following close behind.

"Hmph!" The boy opened the door and slipped into the passenger seat, sticking his tongue out at the red-head as he buckled his seatbelt. "I do _not_ have a big mouth, and I'll prove it to you!"

"Bah, only because you've got everything to gain by keeping me being... Eugh... _Nice_ , a secret, kid." Vicky visibly shuddered at her own usage of 'nice'.

"Because being nice is _so_ hard, right?" The eleven year old teased with a grin, secretly hoping he could get away with the playful teasing, now that he and Vicky had shared a fairly amicable moment.

"No, being mean is just _easier_ , that's all." She shot back, narrowing her eyes a little at Timmy, though the look quickly faded as she started the car. "Bottom line, Twerp-" Vicky put the car into reverse, pulled out of the parking spot, and shifted the vehicle into drive, heading straight for the exit of the ice cream stand's parking lot. "You keep your end, and I'll- ...Hah..." She sighed, hardly believing her mind had come up with a deal that went so far _against_ her principles. "I will _try_ to make an _effort_ to be... Nice... B-But only because I... Because I feel bad about pushing you in the pool, got it?! It's got _nothing_ to do with me _wanting_ to be nice to you, or... Or me _liking_ hanging out with you! I'm just a girl of my word, understand?"

As she explained herself, Timmy couldn't help but notice a slight tinge of pink return to his babysitter's cheeks, her eyes glancing over at him every now and then, seemingly sizing him up, or gauging him for some kind of response. _"Why does she act so weird when it comes to being nice? First at the hospital, when I hugged her, and now again, just_ talking _about being nice...?"_ The brunet was beyond confused, but it seemed like Vicky wanted an answer, so he nodded his head up and down, relaying to her that he understood. "Y-Yeah, I... I understand."

"...Good." The girl nodded as well, satisfied with her charge's response. "Now, since we've got that out of the way... I have another proposition I want to run by you..."

"Er... A what now? Propo... You... You wanna propose to me?!" Timmy nearly screamed, his previously calm and relaxed expression twisting into one of horror. "But I'm too young to get married! ...I think!"

"Wha-?! N-No, you idiot! A proposal doesn't _have_ to mean asking someone to marry-!" Vicky's cheeks took on a decidedly scarlet hue as she did her best to focus on the road. The _last_ thing she wanted to do was make eye contact with the boy _now_! "It means I want to ask you something! ... _Not_ if you wanna marry me, Twerp!"

"Ohh..." Timmy remarked, no small amount of relief in his tone. "Okay... I thought you... Eh... I was worried you and Tootie might have more in common than I thought..." The boy chuckled nervously, his own cheeks feeling abnormally warm after _that_ little misunderstanding. "S-So... Um... What _did_ you want to ask me...?"

Vicky reached up toward her face, sweeping a few locks of her red hair out of it in some small attempt to regain her composure. "I was just thinking... Since you can't swim, and I... Like to think that I'm a pretty good swimmer... I just figured with you having the pool at your house, something like what... What _almost_ happened might y'know, happen again."

"...Okay...?" The brunet questioned in a bemused tone, tilting his head slightly at the seventeen year old.

"Rrgh... Do I have to spell out _everything_ here, Timmy?" The red-head growled out, feeling her patience beginning to wane. "Would you like me to teach you how to _swim_?"

"S-Swim? Like... In the water? ...In _deep_ water?" The boy audibly gulped, considering the events that had transpired just a few short hours ago in his own backyard.

"Yeah. You're not doing yourself any favors _not_ knowing how to swim, Twerp. And I seriously doubt your parents are gonna teach you." Vicky shrugged as she continued driving, noticing that they were already back in the familiar neighborhood that both she and Timmy lived in. "Not to mention, you'd have a _great_ teacher to show you the ropes~..." She finished in a sing-song voice, casting an aside glance and grin at the boy.

"W-Well... I guess so... W-We can start out slow, right? I mean... In shallow water or something?" Timmy spoke nervously, though he couldn't deny that the idea of Vicky teaching him did put him somewhat at ease... Just a bit.

"Hehehe..." The red-head chuckled, already forming ideas for training Timmy in her mind. "Of course, Twerp. We'll go at _your_ pace..."


	5. Chapter 5

_The next day..._

"Nnh..." Timmy cracked his right eye open, taking a brief moment to glance around his bedroom before his gaze settled on his alarm clock, indicating the time as a quarter past nine in the morning. "'Least I don't-" He cut himself off with a yawn, then rubbed some of the sleep out of his eyes before turning over to face the wall behind him. "Agh... Have to get up for school..." He sighed contentedly, feeling the warm embrace of sleep start to take hold of him once more...

 _Slam!_

Only for an unknown force to loudly kick his bedroom door open, causing it to slam against the wall. "Rise and shine, Twerp!" Vicky exclaimed in a strangely upbeat tone of voice, which, considering how tired he was from staying up late thanks to a sugar high; only caused Timmy to fold his pillow over his head, trying in vain to block out his babysitter's voice and hopefully get her to realize he wanted to sleep in today.

Alas, this was not to be.

"C'mon, kid! I told you I'd teach you to swim, and that's just what I'm gonna do!" The red-head strode over to the side of his bed, giving his comforter a quick yank and tearing it away from him, leaving the eleven year old in just his pajamas, a t-shirt and boxers; curled up in bed, his pillow still folded over his head. "Hey. Lazy-Bones. Your parents already left and gave me permission to do with you as I wish, so get up, get a towel, and throw on a bathing suit; you can sleep in the car on the way."

Hearing this, Timmy released his pillow and turned back over in bed, his expression tired and a little confused as he looked his babysitter up and down, realizing she was wearing her familiar green bikini top, along with a pair of white cut-off jean shorts. "Ugh..." The boy groaned sleepily, again rubbing at his tired eyes. "Wha...? Bathing suit? And... Sleep on the way...? Where are we going?"

"To the beach, obviously!" Again, Vicky exclaimed in a tone _far_ more upbeat than the brunet was used to, her apparent excitement and playful grin making him feel the slightest bit uneasy. "Now c'mon! I don't wanna lose my secret spot! Get changed, grab a towel, and meet me downstairs in five!" With that, Vicky spun around on her heel and quickly left Timmy's room, shutting the door behind her.

For several seconds, the eleven year old boy simply stared at his closed bedroom door, before his gaze eventually wandered over to his fishbowl, his mind just then remembering that he had fairy godparents. "...Uh... I wish I knew what was _going on_?!"

Instantly, Cosmo and Wanda popped into existence in their fairy forms, their wands already emitting sparks as they granted their godchild's wish. There was a low poofing sound, before Wanda snapped her fingers and opened her mouth to speak, only to be cut off by her husband. "Ooh! I know!" Cosmo beamed at Timmy. "Vicky's taking you to the beach!"

Timmy facepalmed, shaking his head as his fairy godfather pointed out the obvious. "Thanks..." He remarked sarcastically as he hopped out of bed and walked across his room to his dresser, then fished a bathing suit out of the bottom drawer.

"She sure seems excited today...?" Wanda shot her godchild a curious look, noting his normally less-than-pleasant babysitter's strangely upbeat attitude. "Did... We miss something important between the two of you yesterday, Timmy?"

"No, I already told you about how I almost drowned when Vicky pushed me into the pool, and then she took me to the hospital to get checked out." Opening the drawer above the one he got his bathing suit from, Timmy moved a few sheets and pillow cases around until he found what he was looking for: a dark blue towel.

"And what happened after that?" The pinkette questioned in a somewhat absent-sounding tone as her husband floated away from her and plopped down on the couch in front of the TV in the room, using his wand to turn it on and surf through the channels.

"We went out for ice cream." The boy spoke in a matter-of-fact tone, suggesting he and the babysitter he rarely(if ever) got along with going out for ice cream _wasn't_ an extremely unusual occurrence. "Vicky got me a banana split-"

"She did?" Wanda asked in slight disbelief.

"And then we shared it-"

"You _shared_ a banana split?! With Vicky?!" Again, Wanda questioned her godchild, her voice rising several octaves as she began to honestly wonder if she was still asleep, and was simply having a _very_ lucid(and completely unbelievable) dream.

"W-Well yeah... I mean, she offered, and I wasn't about to say no..." The eleven year old shrugged, evidently still too tired to realize how outlandish his story sounded, considering this _was_ Vicky they were talking about.

"And you're telling me she just... Did this? For no real reason? Just some random act of kindness by your _evil_ babysitter?" Deep down, the pink-haired fairy didn't _truly_ believe Vicky was evil, after all, the fairy woman was over ten-thousand years old. She'd met her fair share of bratty kids _and_ teenagers, along with more than a few adults, and among _them_ people who she _could_ say were truly evil. And while she wasn't especially fond of how the red-head treated her godson at times, she was well aware that Vicky was still growing up just as much as Timmy was. The girl could be a brat, but evil she was not.

At the same time though, Wanda _did_ err on the side of caution whenever the seventeen year old displayed a rare act of kindness toward Timmy, and taking him out for ice cream on a whim was _definitely_ odd.

"Er... See, about that... The thing is..." The brunet stumbled over his words, trying to figure out the best way to explain his and Vicky's little 'deal'. "We kinda... Have a deal? As long as I keep it a secret that Vicky is... Um... Nice, sometimes; she said she... Might let some of my chores slide now and then... Plus, she said she'd get me more ice cream!" Timmy's bright blue eyes lit up much like they had the day before, the thought of more banana splits making him drool a little.

"Of course. Sweets. Because you need _more_ of those with Cosmo and I around to grant any wish you might have." Wanda deadpanned sarcastically and shook her head. "But... I suppose if it means you and Vicky might actually get along... Cavities are a small price to pay." Satisfied with Timmy's explanation, the pinkette fairy waved her wand, poofing her godchild out of his pajamas and into the bathing suit he'd been holding, along with a clean but faded pink t-shirt. "You want Cosmo and I to come along? Just in case?"

"Um..." The boy cupped his chin in his hand, holding one arm up with the other. "...Probably not... Vicky's more... Um... Perceptive? Than my parents or... Well, a lot of people in Dimmsdale. She might notice me talking to a random pink seagull, or a green crab on the beach. Might be best if you two stay here."

"Hm..." Wanda hummed to herself in thought, she wasn't entirely thrilled with the idea of leaving Timmy in Vicky's care, even if the older girl _had_ saved him from drowning yesterday. "Alright, but I want you to _stay_ _close_ to Vicky, understand, Honey? Whether she's in a good or bad mood once you're at the beach, stay with her, and definitely don't go in the water without her, okay?" She spoke in a mildly stern tone, hoping to get her point across.

"Who else would I stay close to? Vicky's the only person who can get me back home from the beach without you two there." Timmy tossed his towel over his shoulder as he made for his bedroom door. "And I'll be careful around the water; doubt I'll even be in it alone anyway, since Vicky wants to teach me to swim." With that, he waved bye to his godparents, opened the door to his room, and left, shutting it behind him.

 _Downstairs..._

"Huh..." Vicky looked at herself in the mirror located in the house's downstairs bathroom. Physically, she looked just as she always did, to herself, anyway. Same red hair, pink eyes, smooth, fair skin dotted her and there with freckles. And her clothes were fairly standard for her too, as the two piece bikini she wore was the one she usually did when she went swimming in Timmy's pool. Same with her old cut-offs, though today she'd forsaken a shirt due to it already being close to ninety degrees when she woke up, and since she and Timmy were going to the beach, she really didn't think she needed it.

Emotionally though... That was a different story. She had no idea why, but she was... Strangely chipper today. She felt energized, maybe even something not far from _happy_ or _excited_. The question, of course; was _why_? Because she was teaching Timmy how to swim today? She knew some part of her subconscious had been looking forward to it, but again, why? Part of it had to be the fact that she was a self-proclaimed girl of her word, and thus had every intention of honoring her deal with the Twerp, but why did that make her happy? Why did she get an almost... _Warm_ feeling in her chest when the thought of teaching him-No, the thought of just being _around_ him-graced her thoughts? "Great, now _I'm_ being weird..." Vicky hung her head a little and chuckled to herself with a smirk. _"What's weirder? The fact that I'm happy, or the fact that I'm_ questioning _that I'm happy?"_ After another moment, she shrugged, shutting the bathroom light off as she stepped back out into the living room.

"Twerp!" Vicky moved across the living room, stopping just to the left of the bottom of the stairs and leaning on the railing. "You ready yet-" She cut herself off just as Timmy appeared at the top of the stairs, wearing his bathing suit, an old, faded pink t-shirt, and black sandals, a towel thrown over his right shoulder. "Finally. I was wondering if you'd fallen back asleep or something..." The red-head turned away from the stairs as she heard her charge start to descend them.

"I-Hah-" The brunet started to speak, only to interrupt himself with a yawn before covering his mouth. "I'm ready when you are."

"Good, let's get going then. I've got a very specific spot I like to go to when I head to the beach, and the sooner we get there, the better our chances are of having it all to ourselves." Vicky quickly patted her pockets for her keys as she made for the front door, then pulled it open, allowing Timmy to leave first as she shut and locked the door behind them.

"All to ourselves?" Timmy questioned in a curious tone over his shoulder as he stepped around Vicky's car to the passenger side.

"Well I _was_ gonna bring Tootie, but I figured you wouldn't want your girlfriend knowing you sink like a stone, so our mom's watching her today." The red-head teased, earning her an annoyed, blushing look from the boy. " _And_ , since I've got my reputation to think about, we're heading to the beach early so I don't have to chase any morons away from _my_ spot. ...Plus I figure you probably don't want a bunch of gawking idiots _watching_ you learn to swim." She remarked in an almost proud-sounding tone as she pulled the driver's side door open and slid into her seat. "See how thoughtful I am?" Vicky fluttered her eyelashes teasingly at her charge as he sat down in the passenger seat next to her.

"Um... Thank you, Vicky. That's... Actually pretty thoughtful of you." Timmy responded with genuine gratitude, shooting the seventeen year old a small, shy smile.

"Well I-... I mean... You're... Welcome?" She spoke bemusedly, not expecting the response Timmy gave her in the least. "Just uh... K-Keep the hugging to a minimum alright...? It's... Kinda awkward, y'know?"

"...Okay." The brunet nodded in understanding, though he had no real intention of listening to his babysitter this time. She seemingly became much more agreeable, and even approached _friendly_ after the last hug; and considering he hadn't burst into flames simply from touching her, he couldn't think of anything he had to lose by being somewhat affectionate with the older girl. _"Maybe all she ever needed_ was _a hug..."_ Timmy mused to himself with a grin as Vicky reversed her car out of the driveway, and began the roughly forty-five minute journey to the beach.

"About..." Vicky began, only to soon trail off, wondering how best to approach the slightly delicate subject on the tip of her tongue. "Um... About Tootie... Forget the whole 'girlfriend' thing I said. I know she can kind of... Get under your skin with the way she acts sometimes."

"Oh... Well... Don't worry about it? I knew you were just teasing." Timmy tried to reassure the older girl, the interior of the car falling silent again soon after, the only noise being the low hum of the engine. _"Why does this feel so awkward? ...Probably because Vicky and I almost_ never _just talk..."_ He thought to himself, glancing out the window as the skyline of Dimmsdale came into view. It so happened that the fastest way to the beach from his neighborhood was to simply cut through the city itself, and if they were early enough, they might even dodge the worst of the traffic. "Hey, um..." Timmy turned to look at his babysitter, who glanced at him out of the corner of her eye as he began to speak. "So... That girl at the hospital, Heather? Think you might... What I mean is... H-How do you know her?"

The red-head rolled her eyes, part of her hoping Timmy had forgotten her annoying ex-classmate.

"We don't _have_ to talk about her... If you don't want to." The boy suddenly spoke up, evidently having noticed her rolling her eyes.

"...No, it's fine." The seventeen year old admitted with a sigh, her expression looking more weary than angry, like when she'd first re-encountered the blonde girl. "She... Heather's an old friend of mine from middle school. We used to hang out a lot together both during and after school when we were kids, and I guess... We were pretty close. She taught me a few things about defending myself, standing up to bullies... Y'know, that sorta stuff."

"Okay... So you two must've been best friends, right?" The brunet asked, knowing there obviously had to be more to this story, considering Vicky apparently couldn't even stand the sight of the blonde girl now.

"Yeah, you could say that. I remember back in middle school, the two of us would team up a lot to mess with our teachers... And sometimes the other kids. Just grade school pranks, _maybe_ someone would get glued to their desk chair every now and then." A small, nostalgic smile grew across Vicky's face as she looked back on fonder memories with Heather. "After school, we usually just hung out at my house. Played video games, swam in the pool in the backyard... She was pretty close to Tootie, always treating her like her little sister..." She gently applied the brakes as they came to a red light; taking a moment to look around and check where they were in the city.

"Really? Tootie never mentioned her before..." The eleven year old paused to rub his chin, trying to remember if the raven-haired girl _had_ mentioned the older blonde girl, and he'd simply forgotten.

"Pfft. You're not fooling me, kid." Vicky scoffed, smirking over at Timmy as she waited for the street light to turn green. "You spend most of your time around my sister trying to get _away_ from my sister. I seriously doubt you've ever given Toots the chance to talk about Heather... Not that she would, she's pretty fixated on you lately... And I know, you don't have to say anything. You don't like Tootie that way."

"Mm." Timmy turned to face the window again, his mind still feeling a bit sluggish and sleep addled. "It's not like I'm _trying_ to be mean to her, I just... I don't get what she sees in me, and it's hard to see _her_ that way, since she's always..."

"Trying to kidnap you and force you to marry her?" Vicky remarked with a knowing grin, continuing their drive to the beach as the light turned green. "Heh. Knowing Tootie, even if you _did_ tell her that, she'd be too stubborn to listen." She shook her head, feeling the same way her charge did. Tootie could be downright obsessed with him at times, and she honestly wished her little sister would at least _try_ to go after someone else. Even the blond kid Timmy hung out with all the time would be okay in her book. "As for what she sees in you... It's probably what more girls than you realize see in you."

"Huh?" The brunet looked at his babysitter quizzically. "More girls than I realize? The only girls I really know are Tootie and Trixie. And Trixie doesn't seem like she's ever gonna give me the time of day..." He admitted somewhat bitterly, the amount of sleep he got the previous night not quite being enough to let him feel positive about the dark-haired girl.

"Kinda like how you never give Tootie the time of day?" Vicky quirked up an eyebrow, keeping her gaze firmly on the road.

"Well... Maybe..." He conceded with a sigh, realizing that in that regard, he and Trixie weren't all that different.

" _Anyway_ , what you probably don't realize is that you _do_ have some qualities that girls tend to look for, Timmy. You're nice to people, you're pretty sweet to my sister-" _"And me."_ Vicky thought to herself. "-Even though she can drive you up a wall, and if I'm being honest... You're cute." The red-head felt her cheeks heat up as she finished. It wasn't really her style to praise people, and considering it was Timmy she was talking to, she only felt more weird doing it, but he _had_ been wondering what exactly it was that Tootie saw in him... Well, that was her justification for saying it, anyway.

"C-Cute?" Timmy felt his own cheeks heat up at the compliment, though he already knew his were much more red, and therefore, his blush much more noticeable. " _Y-You_ think I'm... Cute?"

"We-Well, I mean... You... Have your moments... H-How did this conversation end up being about me thinking you're cute?! I thought you were asking me about Heather?!" Vicky asked in a suddenly higher tone of voice, her gaze briefly falling on Timmy before returning her focus to the road, the densely packed buildings of Dimmsdale become more sparse as they left the city behind.

"Oh! Um... R-Right!" The brunet stammered out, trying to remember where he and Vicky had left off. "S-So uh... You mentioned going to middle school with her... Did you go to high school with her too?"

"That's right, um... Well, Heather was-or _is_ -a bit older than me, I think about two years. We met back when I was in fifth grade, and she was in seventh. I think she actually got herself held back a year just so we could stay as friends in middle school, _and_ so we could go to high school together." Vicky turned onto a rotary, exiting it onto the highway. "...You sure you don't want to get a little sleep? You've... Still got some time, y'know...?"

"Eh... I'm not _that_ tired... And besides, I wanna hear more about what happened between you and Heather. It _sounds_ like you and her were pretty good friends, but... You didn't seem all that happy to see her at the hospital, so...?" The boy trailed off, looking over at his babysitter as her eyes remained glued to the road in front of them. Part of him _did_ feel like he was prying a bit, but this was probably one of the longest conversations he'd ever had with the red-head, and through it; he was beginning to develop an understanding of why people tended to fear her.

"Hum... Where was I then...?" Vicky wondered aloud. She'd never admit it to the boy, but talking with Timmy did feel somewhat therapeutic. Then again, she was usually too proud to talk to anyone about her feelings, or things that bothered her, so it might not have been talking to _Timmy_ , so much as it was just taking to _someone_. "Mmph... High school." She grimaced, the very thought of when her and Heather's relationship began to sour forming an unpleasant knot in her chest. "I'm sure you remember back when _we_ first met, right Twerp?"

"Uh-Huh..." Timmy nodded, easily remembering the life-changing events of that day. "I called your babysitting service after my parents-"

"Yeah-yeah-yeah, everyone _knows_." The older teen interrupted, not wanting to rehash the events of that particular day, as she was nearly positive that it wasn't exactly Timmy's favorite memory of her.

"Everyone? ...We're the only ones here though..." The brunet stared at the girl, tilting his head curiously.

"Well _anyway_ , that day you called me, I'd already made plans with Heather, but... I guess the idea of another client, and obviously more money; got the better of me. I flaked on her at the last minute, and went over to your house instead... And uh... You pretty much know _our_ history from there..." She chanced a quick look over at her charge, seeing that the highway was mostly free of traffic, and had pretty much no chance of getting into an accident at her current speed.

Timmy merely stared back at her, his face not really betraying any sort of emotion.

 _Rrgh..._

Then his stomach grumbled, causing his cheeks to bloom with a rosy red color as he looked away in embarrassment. "Um... You didn't happen to bring any food, did you?"

Vicky continued to stare at the eleven year old, her face an expressionless mask. After another moment of silence, she let her eyelids droop to about halfway, then turned to face the road again, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Cooler in the backseat." She deadpanned, finding Timmy's sudden hunger and question more ridiculous than annoying. It took every ounce of willpower she had to not giggle at the boy for turning a serious conversation into a question about food.

"Yay!" The brunet exclaimed with visible excitement as he unbuckled his seatbelt and dove into the backseat, his lower body and legs remaining in the passenger seat with his rear-end partially in the air as he lifted the top off the ice-filled cooler and felt around in it, loudly shifting the ice cubes within about.

"Before you complain, I didn't pack you a banana split, Twerp. You'll have to settle for sandwiches." Vicky remarked with a roll of her eyes, though she was glad Timmy was preoccupied with the cooler, therefore preventing him from seeing her face; as she was having _immense_ trouble wiping the amused grin off of it.

"Do you want anything?" His fingers curled around one of the aforementioned sandwiches, tightly wrapped in foil to protect it from the melting ice.

"No, you go ahead. Might not be the best idea to try to eat a sandwich while driving, know what I mean?" Finally seeing the exit that led to the beach, Vicky veered onto it, slowing down as the road continued on, and the land on either side of it became flatter.

"I guess so..." The brunet spoke in a mildly disinterested tone as he unwrapped his sandwich, throwing the plastic in the small side compartment of the passenger door. "Sorry for... Interrupting. I just haven't had breakfast today..."

"It's fine, there really wasn't much more to tell anyway." As she spoke, the red-head slid down her and Timmy's windows, allowing the salty-smelling air of the beach into the car. Once this was done, she inhaled deeply, the scent of the ocean and sand filling her with nostalgia. "Ah... I dunno about you, but I never get tired of this smell..." A genuinely happy smile formed on Vicky's face, one she had no intention of hiding.

"I like it!" Timmy exclaimed as he looked out the window and nibbled at his sandwich, then turned to face his babysitter again. "It makes food taste-..." The boy trailed off as he noticed the smile on Vicky's face. It wasn't like the teasing grins, or playful smirks she usually sported. This was... Different somehow. It made him actually _stop_ upon seeing it. Part of the reason was because the chances of someone seeing Vicky with a _real_ smile on her face were right around the same as someone seeing a unicorn, except unicorn sightings were more frequent.

And the other part was... It made him feel strange. He felt surprised, caught off guard, excited, uneasy, and happy all at once. It certainly wasn't an emotion-or combination of emotions-he was used to, that much he was sure of. After several seconds of this stunned silence, the brunet felt a word form on the tip of his tongue, but at the last second, he mentally bit the sensory organ; two more words making themselves known as the three struggled for the right to be spoken.

Beautiful was one, but the word felt more adult to Timmy than he _himself_ did, and at the moment, it didn't seem to quite fit how the seventeen year old looked.

Cute was another, but she'd already called him cute. That wasn't to say that Vicky couldn't _be_ cute, as he had admittedly found her blushing to be just that; but here, cute didn't seem to fit either, though it was closer to what he was looking for than beautiful.

And with two out of three words down, Timmy decided that the first one that had formed on his tongue would have to do. "V-Vicky?" He spoke up, frowning a little at his own stutter.

"Hm? Yeah, Twerp?" She turned a little to look at him as she leaned on her left elbow, her fingers lazily tangled up in her hair as the wind blew through it; her right hand holding the steering wheel and keeping the car going straight along the empty road, their pace much slower now that they were off the highway.

Again, the brunet hesitated, his words temporarily leaving him as the warm smile his babysitter had been casting toward the coast fell on him, filling his chest with a sudden feeling that he could only describe as weird and fluttery. Kind of like butterflies. "You... You're really pretty. ...W-When you smile like that."

 _That_ seemed to earn Timmy his babysitter's full attention as she took her eyes off the road completely, both pink orbs widening with surprise as she focused on him, her mouth twisted into what he could best describe as a little horizontal zigzag. "...Oh." Vicky replied dumbly, the compliment leaving her just a bit too shocked for words. After a moment of _very_ awkward silence, she sat up straight, her hands gripping the steering wheel at the ten and two positions. "W-Well um... Thank you... Timmy."

He focused his attention back on his sandwich; cheeks still stained a bright and obvious pink color. _"Maybe that wasn't such a good idea..."_


	6. Chapter 6

" _Yeah, definitely shouldn't have said that."_ Timmy thought ruefully as he stared out the passenger side window, his right hand cupping his chin as he leaned on his elbow, itself resting on the door of the car. Less than a stone's throw from the car, and still passing by them despite it being their destination; was the beach, sparsely populated here and there by the residents of Dimmsdale, and probably a few of the neighboring towns as well.

He wanted to speak up, to turn and face his babysitter to ask her just _where_ they were going, since they were, as mentioned previously; at the beach, but each time he thought he found the courage to speak, he remembered what he'd said to the red-head, remembered that he'd(stupidly) told her she was pretty when she smiled. And ever since then, the car had been filled with a pregnant silence, one that was steadily growing uncomfortable... For the brunet, at least.

" _Why did I tell Cosmo and Wanda to stay home?! I'd give anything to just wish that I'd kept my stupid mouth shut, instead of..."_ Timmy _slowly_ glanced to his left at Vicky, hoping with every fiber of his being that the seventeen year old would be too focused on the road to notice him.

Luckily for him, she was. The corners of her mouth were turned downward into a slight frown as her pink eyes scanned the coast they were traveling along for... Something. He briefly followed her gaze to where she was looking, but only saw more of the coast, and beyond that, the apparent end of the beach as the nearly white sand became replaced by sheer, dark-colored rocks. A line of various types of trees grew in between some of the rocks, with even more growing further up above the crags, closer to the road. "Hm... Where is...? We should be getting close..." Vicky mumbled to herself, not really paying attention to her charge, as she was more focused on finding a _certain_ area of missing guardrail along the road. Soon, however; she got the odd little feeling that she was being watched, and glanced at Timmy's bright blue eyes out of the corner of her own right eye. "Enjoying the view, Twerp?"

"Ah!" The boy yelped as he realized he'd been caught staring, and quickly turned his head to the right, again focusing his gaze on the nearby coast as his cheeks flushed pink. "I-It-! It's a n-nice view! I n-never realized how far down the coast the sand reached!" Timmy thought up a quick(and he hoped _believable_ ) lie. "B-But ah... Aren't we g-going to the beach? We kinda... Already passed it...?" The brunet turned to face his babysitter, only to shyly look down toward his feet as he briefly made eye contact with her.

"Nope. Like I said, I've got a special spot in mind, that way you don't have to deal with all those idiots staring at you as you learn to swim." The red-head grinned at her charge, before turning her attention back to the side of the road, though she doubted Timmy noticed, since he was apparently more concerned with making sure his sandals were still on his feet.

"Ah... A-Alright then..." The boy muttered sheepishly, still not quite feeling brave enough to look the older girl in the eye after what he'd said to her.

"We're almost there, don't worry." Vicky spoke up in a gentle tone, then rolled her eyes as the eleven year old in the passenger seat flinched upon hearing her voice. "Y'know..." She let up on the accelerator, allowing the car to slow down a bit as she noticed the white sand to the right of road give way to craggy, dark-colored rocks. "I'm... I'm not mad or anything, so you don't have to get all... Quiet and stuff..." The seventeen year old felt her cheeks heat up a little, but opted to ignore it. It _was_ just Timmy she was with, after all. "C'mon Twerp, the only reason I clammed up earlier was because you caught me off guard... Eheh... Something you've been doing a lot, recently."

Timmy remained quiet, his blush reddening ever so slightly as he continued to nervously twiddle his index fingers.

" _Dammit I suck at this..."_ The red-head thought to herself as she felt her patience begin to wane, which in turn usually caused her temper to flare up, and _that_ was usually followed by her yelling at the brunet. _"Okay, deep breath. You said you'd_ try _to be nicer..."_ Vicky inhaled a deep breath through her nose, then exhaled it through her mouth, blowing it out through pursed lips as though she were trying to whistle. "Okay..." She whispered out, preparing to try and coax a response out of her charge once more. "I-Oh, uh... Hold on a sec..." She trailed off as the familiar opening she'd been looking for in the guardrail came into view, and slowed the car to a crawl before turning into the opening, stopping the vehicle and shifting it into park on the firm, sandy ground. "Finally. We're here!" Vicky exclaimed, making no attempt to hide the excitement in her voice.

"We... Are?" Timmy questioned bemusedly as he looked up from his feet and out the passenger side window, noticing that they were parked on the side of the road in what appeared to be a small opening in the surrounding trees and vegetation. The opening itself wasn't all that big, probably only large enough to accommodate two, maybe three cars at max, and looked to be mostly overgrown from lack of visitors anyway. Above them, the trees formed a sort of umbrella-like canopy that shielded the small parking spot from the sun, and the ground Vicky's car was parked on seemed to be composed of a combination of dead leaves, soft dirt, and sand from the beach. Several feet to his and Vicky's left was a modest, but noticeable parting in the trees where the ground seemed to dip into a gentle downward incline, with a small, sandy trail into the wooded area beyond that. " _This_ is your spot?" Timmy tilted his head a little at the seventeen year old, temporarily forgetting the _very_ stupid thing he'd said to her earlier that was the reason he'd decided to be quiet in the first place.

"Well... Not so much _the_ spot as a _part_ of it. The place I mentioned is just down that trail over there." Vicky, her body oriented toward her passenger; gestured behind her with her thumb at the opening in the trees Timmy had noticed just a few seconds prior; a somewhat proud smirk on her face. "But _first_ , since I got you to start talking again...?" She quirked an eyebrow up at her charge, a low chuckle escaping her as his eyes widened slightly.

"Wha- I- Mmph..." The brunet opened his mouth to speak, only to close it and let out a sound somewhere between a hum and a sigh as he looked away in annoyance. More at himself for telling Vicky she looked pretty than at the red-head herself.

"C'mon, Twerp. I'm making an honest effort to be nicer to you, and I have every intention of doing that _and_ teaching you to swim, but if you... Er... _We_ , don't clear the air a little, it's only gonna make me teaching you that much more difficult." The red-head smiled again, the same smile she'd been sporting when the smell of the salt and sand of the beach filled her with nostalgia.

And just like before, Timmy felt an odd little flutter in his chest upon seeing his babysitter smile. In fact, this time it felt a little stronger, as the first one hadn't really been directed at him, but _this_ one definitely was. With that, it finally occurred to the boy that much in the same way he'd found _her_ weakness by showing her some form of affection out of the blue, _Vicky_ had found his in a similarly accidental way, and all she had to do was smile. It wasn't when she grinned evilly, or when she smirked due to something amusing her, it was when she _genuinely_ smiled. A real, warm smile that indicated she was happy. The sight of the red-head's happiness was without a doubt infectious, and it made Timmy feel something that he simply couldn't describe. That said, while he wasn't sure how to describe it, he _was_ sure that he liked this feeling, confusing to the eleven year old as it was.

"I don't... Wh-What do you want me t-to say, though?" Timmy at last spoke up, finding that his babysitter's smile, while making him feel a confusing mix of emotions, somehow managed to put him at ease too, if only very slightly.

"Well..." Vicky began, her smile fading as she pouted her lips together in thought. "I guess I... Um... It would, y'know, be nice to know if you... Meant what you said? ...'Cause you have been..." She paused, wondering why it had suddenly become so difficult to speak in sentences that weren't short and halting. "Don't take this as me saying I... _Hate_ it, but you've been pretty clingy and affectionate lately. It's not like I... I mean... Ugh..." The girl hung her head with an exasperated sigh, realizing the way she was rambling on was quickly amounting to very little, if anything at all. "L-Look, I'd be lying if I told you I don't... _Like_ getting hugs and compliments, Timmy. It _is_ really nice and... And Hell, you've been pretty sweet when you _really_ don't have to, considering I'm... Y'know, _me_ , and... And oh my god I'm rambling like an idiot about stuff you're probably still too young to even _think_ about, let alone _worry_ over..." Vicky facepalmed, realizing how dumb she was probably making herself look in front of one of the few kids she babysat who she actually _respected_. "F-Forget I said any of that other stuff." She pulled her hand away from her face, her gaze once more falling on and meeting Timmy's. "Just... Tell me this: When you said I looked pretty... And-Uh... Ignoring that you said I look pretty 'when I smile', rather than just in general... Did you... Mean it?"

"Um... H-Hypothetically speaking, wh-what-Uh... What if I d-did?" Timmy laughed nervously as he felt a wave of uncomfortable heat wash over him. He felt like he was sweating bullets, and the unreadable expression on his babysitter's face wasn't helping in the slightest.

"I asked first." The older teen replied rather simply, giving the brunet an expectant look.

"Uhh..." Timmy squeaked out in a high pitched tone. "W-Well... I didn't _lie_ to you or anything. Y-You _are_... Really pretty... E-Even when you aren't smiling!" He added in desperately, his heart feeling like it was trying to pound its way right through his ribcage and out of his chest. "I just... D-Don't see y-you smile very often, s-so... I... I-Um... I guess I wanted... You to know...?" The boy trailed off, his justification sounding unsure, and not unlike a question toward the end.

"So... Then, you _did_ mean it, right?"

Timmy nodded sheepishly, his cheeks blushing a bright cherry-red color.

"Huh... Well... Thank you, Timmy. That-... It really is sweet, coming from you." The red-head admitted hesitantly, noticing an odd, unfamiliar feeling in her chest.

"You're-Um... You're welcome, Vicky." The brunet found himself breaking eye contact with his babysitter and looking away as he nervously rubbed the back of his head.

" _So much for clearing the air..."_ Vicky thought to herself, still watching Timmy out of the corner of her eye as she too turned away to face forward in her seat. _"If anything, I might've just made things_ more _awkward..."_ Her eyes drifted downward, eventually settling on her car's radio, which indicated the time as a little after ten-thirty. "Ah... So! We'd better get going! No point wasting time sitting around in the car when I should be teaching you to swim, right?" The older girl remarked in an upbeat tone that seemed just a little awkward coming from her, but then, she felt _entirely_ out of her element in the current situation, and desperately wanted to shift her brain's focus off of... Whatever was going on between her and Timmy. For now, anyway.

And Timmy, instantly picking up what his babysitter was doing, was more than happy to follow her lead. "R-Right!" He nodded enthusiastically, suddenly feeling like learning to swim would be the easiest thing in the world, compared to understanding the odd feelings he got around Vicky.

"Alright then, just need to grab a few things from the backseat." The red-head nodded as she turned off the car and got out, then moved the driver's seat forward so she could reach into the back. "Let's see... You wanna grab the cooler, and I'll grab my beach bag and a few other things?"

"Ah... Yeah." The brunet unbuckled his seatbelt and hopped out of the car, then made his way around it to the driver's side, sidling up next to his babysitter, who was currently still bent over as she leaned into the back of the car to pack Timmy's towel into her beach bag. "Uh... Just wondering..."

"Hm? Yeah?" The seventeen year old took a step back and stood up straight, her beach bag in hand; and shouldered it before turning her attention back to Timmy.

"This... Secret place of yours... Are there any lifeguards there or anything? Or is it really completely isolated?" Again, the boy felt an odd feeling wash over him. The idea of there being no one around but Vicky _did_ scare him a little, but only because he wasn't entirely sure the red-head alone would be enough if something happened. On the other hand, it really wouldn't make sense for there to be any lifeguards out this far from the beach in the first place, and he couldn't deny there was something both nerve-wracking _and_ exciting about being all alone with his babysitter.

"Well, I can't say for _sure_ that there won't be anyone else down there, but it's not really the type of place lifeguards patrol." Vicky shrugged, then began digging around in her bag. "Now where are... Aha!" She suddenly exclaimed, producing a pair of black sunglasses from her bag before slipping them over her eyes. "And relax, Twerp. The only lifeguard you _need_ is yours truly." A wide smile broke out across the older girl's face, exposing her pearly white teeth.

"Ehehe... Yeah..." Timmy gulped audibly, finding Vicky's confident attitude and smile to be just slightly unnerving.

"Oh what is it _now_?" Vicky questioned in an annoyed tone, her smile fading somewhat, though a smirk remained to indicate that she was still only playing around. "C'mon kid, don't you trust me?" She slipped her sunglasses up onto her forehead, doing her best to mimic the verge-of-tears look Timmy was so fond of using to get his way.

"H-Hey! That's my- Urgh... That isn't fair!" The brunet half-shouted, his cheeks turning a familiar shade of pink that he quickly tried to hide by reaching into the back of Vicky's car to grab the cooler.

"Heehee! Maybe not, but you can't argue with results, Twerp!" Vicky giggled at her flustered charge, then bent down and moved the driver's seat forward a bit more under the guise of giving Timmy more room to work with; while in reality, a playful little idea had formed in her head. "Mm... Oh hey, c'mere a sec." She reached for the boy's shoulder, allowing her right hand to settle on it as she pulled him back, putting his head roughly level with hers. "You've got something on your cheek..."

"On my cheek?" Timmy questioned, wondering if he'd somehow managed to get a piece of food on his cheek from when he was eating. "What is-"

The red-head leaned in, pressing her lips to Timmy's cheek and giving it a quick peck before pulling away just as quickly and standing up straight again. She then turned away and slipped her sunglasses back over her eyes, poorly covering up the bright red blush that had near-instantly bloomed across her cheeks. "N-Never mind, must've been seeing things."

"D-Did you just...?" The brunet brought his left hand up to his cheek, gently touching the spot Vicky's lips had connected with.

"...I might have..." The girl remarked in a coy, yet somehow nervous manner, turning her head ever so slightly to peek over her shoulder at the boy. "I figured... Me _saying_ I appreciate you saying I'm pretty is nice and all, but... I guess I wanted to _show_ it too, know what I mean?"

"B-But a _kiss_ is... Isn't it...? I m-mean, you d-didn't _have_ to... N-Not-! Not that I didn't like it or anything-! Um... W-Wait..." Timmy stammered in embarrassment and frustration, his brain and mouth seemingly working completely against each other.

"Timmy." Vicky interjected sternly, though again, the slight smirk on her lips proved impossible to hide.

"Um... Y-Yeah?"

"Just take the kiss for what it was, and get the cooler so we can get down to the water, okay?" She quirked an eyebrow up at him expectantly. _"Jeez, three years I've been watching this kid, and I've never noticed how cute he can be when he's embarrassed..."_

"Er... Right, we should... We should do... That." Timmy nodded and turned to face the interior of the car again, feeling somewhat relieved that Vicky had given his mind a task it could anchor itself to, rather than letting it try(and fail) to figure out whatever it was he was beginning to feel for the red-head. In a way, the strange, fluttery feeling he got around her was fairly similar to how he used to feel around Trixie, but now only rarely did. It was warm and comforting, while also nerve-wracking and confusing. It had taken him a while to figure out that he'd had a crush on the oblivious, dark-haired girl, and while his feelings for her had become... Strained, in a way, due to how oblivious of him she evidently was, there was still some small part of him that hoped he'd get her attention. _"So then..."_ The brunet thought to himself as he hefted the cooler out of the little space between the backseat and the backside of the driver's seat. _"Is it the same with Vicky?"_ He stood up straight, carrying the cooler with both hands as he stepped away from the car door and gave it a light shove with his hip to close it, then turned toward the modest opening in the trees, which Vicky stood nearby, her arms crossed and back to him as she waited for him to join her.

Actually, there was at least one small difference between Vicky and Trixie that he could currently think of.

"Hey!" The older girl turned slightly, her head cocked in his direction. "Are you coming or what? The path is steep in some places, and I don't fancy taking you to the hospital _again_ , Twerp."

"I'm coming!" Timmy replied as he stuck the cooler under his right arm. "This thing's kinda heavy, that's all!" He waited until Vicky turned back toward the trees before grinning and bringing his left hand up to his cheek to gently rub at it again. _"Trixie_ _'s_ _never g_ _iven_ _me a kiss on the cheek for complimenting her..."_ The corners of his lips tugged upward into a small smile as he felt his cheeks heat up yet again.

"I _think_ you can handle it, Twerp-" Vicky turned to face her charge once more, only to find that he was just a few feet behind her, holding the cooler with both hands, and seemingly ready to follow her lead. "...Well alright then. Uh... Stick close, Timmy. The path's not exactly maintained or anything."

"'Kay." The brunet replied, allowing Vicky to take a few steps forward before he began to follow her, so as not to inadvertently crash into her, should she come to a sudden stop. As he followed, he noticed that, while it was true that the path wasn't maintained, someone _had_ clearly made the path at some point in the past, as the dirt trail was somewhat worn through the otherwise thick vegetation, and here and there, mostly where the trail sported a downward incline; were little wooden boards, half-buried in the dirt, that served as makeshift stairs. "Hey Vicky?"

"Yeah?" The red-head asked without stopping, used to the old trail as she was.

"Who... Built this? It wasn't you, was it?" Timmy tilted his head slightly, only to stumble on a tree root before quickly regaining his balance.

" _Careful_." The older girl remarked commandingly, this time stopping to look over her shoulder at her charge. "You fall back there, and both you _and_ the cooler are probably gonna fall on _me_."

"Ah... S-Sorry. I'm not really used to being out on trails like this... Where are we going anyway? I don't remember going up any hills during the drive here...?" Timmy looked back at the part of the trail they'd already traversed behind them, only just now noticing that they'd descended roughly ten to fifteen feet since the beginning of it.

"The incline of the road on the way up here is really gradual, you don't notice it unless you pay close attention. And I know _that_ because _I_ never used to notice it back when I was first shown this spot." Vicky took the beach bag off for a second and stretched her arm out, then slipped the bag onto her other shoulder. "As for your other question, no, I didn't make the trail, it's just always been here, ever since the place was first shown to me."

"Wait, so... You were _shown_ this place that we're going?" The boy questioned, causing the slightest of frowns to appear on the red-head's face.

"Hah... Crap..." Vicky sighed, realizing her verbal trip-up. "Alright, so like I said before, Heather's a bit older than me, right? Back when we... _Got_ _along_ , we used to go to the beach and hang out, sunbathe, swim... Whatever. Thing is, the beach has always got some moronic surfer 'bro' who just _has_ to hit on every pretty girl he sees, and we were getting tired of it. We wanted our own spot, someplace where we could just relax and enjoy the beach, minus the idiots." She spun back around, continuing along the trail with her brunet-haired charge in tow.

"But then isn't it yours _and_ Heather's spot?" Timmy chimed in, only realizing his words might strike a nerve _after_ he'd already spoken them.

"I guess you could say it is... But she never comes here anymore, and even if she did... Look, it's not important. What _is_ important is me teaching you to swim, like I said I would, and this is the perfect spot to do that." Vicky inhaled a deep breath as she heard the faint sound of the waves crashing against the shore ahead of them. "And speaking of..." She pointed toward another modest gap in the vegetation that allowed sunlight to pour in; the end of the trail.

"Finally..." The brunet remarked wearily, the warm air of the woods and weight of the cooler he carried beginning to tire him out.

"Heheh... You're such a wimp..." The red-head teased over her shoulder as she and Timmy both exited the thickly overgrown woods, ending up on a patch of sand with a few trees growing in a sort of line to their right and parallel to them, beyond which was a large area of craggy rocks, like the ones Timmy had seen on the drive over. In front of them, the sand and trees extended a fair bit toward the ocean, forming a sort of crescent shape as it thinned out.

After the tip of said crescent was a sort of channel, one that allowed the ocean water to flow in and pool in the area to their left, with the opposite side of the channel being composed of another crescent-like shape composed of sand and yet more dark-colored rocks, interspersed here and there with the odd tree or bush.

However, it was the area to their left that caught Timmy's eye, a sort of rounded lagoon formed by the two crescent-shaped banks of sand and rock that the ocean flowed into and pooled. The bottom was covered in the same soft sand they currently stood on, leaving the water a crystal clear shade of blue, and opposite the opening that allowed the ocean to flow in was a high cliff that had eroded over time from the wind, rain and salty air, forming a sort of dome that shaded roughly a third of the lagoon from the sun. Finally, just a few feet away from them, was essentially a miniature beach, amounting to twenty square feet at max, the perfect size for an area such as this, known only to a small number of people; with the opposite side of the lagoon bearing a similar, somewhat smaller beach as well. "W-Wow... _This_ is the place you were talking about?" The brunet asked in genuine wonderment, his mouth gaping just a little at the closest thing he could imagine to paradise on Earth. It looked like one of those places advertised on TV where people could go on vacation!

"Eyup. You're one of only _three_ people I know who know about this place, the others being Heather and Tootie." Vicky stated proudly, quietly chuckling as her Twerp seemed to actually be at a loss for words.


	7. Chapter 7

"So...? Whaddya think?" Vicky questioned in an expectant tone, a proud smirk still gracing her lips.

"Th-This is..." Timmy, still completely awestruck by natural beauty of the lagoon, Vicky's 'secret spot', as she called it; set the cooler in his hands down just to his right in the soft sand. With his hands now free, he brought both up to his eyes to rub them, just to make sure he wasn't hallucinating from the heat, which felt close to ninety degrees, even as close to the ocean as they were.

"Really, Twerp? I know you're kinda sheltered, but this isn't some heatstroke-induced hallucination. This little slice of paradise is as real as they come, and we've got it all to ourselves!" The older teen turned away from her charge to instead look upon the pool of crystal clear water just a short walk down from where they were. She hadn't been to it since the end of summer, the year before, but everything was just as she remembered it. The sand was still a nearly pure shade of white, free of the bits of dried seaweed you'd normally see at the beach, the water itself was clear and free of trash, having just a few small scatterings of seagrass here and there, and the line of trees that grew along either side of the lagoon ensured that it always got just the right amount of shade.

"This place is... Amazing!" The brunet finally exclaimed, his mind recovering enough from when he first laid eyes on the lagoon to allow him to speak. "How does someplace like this even exist?" He wondered aloud as he looked to his babysitter, noticing now that she had her back to him.

Granted, Timmy had seen _far_ more than the average eleven year old boy, thanks to Cosmo and Wanda, but many of the places he'd seen were either heavily influenced by magic, or existed due to technology that easily outclassed anything on Earth. Yet even taking all that into consideration, this place existed thanks to neither magic nor technology. Nature, along with what had to be only very slight human intervention, had made this place; and that fact alone absolutely boggled the boy's mind. Just when he thought he'd seen it all, his _babysitter_ , the queen of mean and bane of children everywhere(or so he once thought, prior to recent events), of all people; had shown him something new and incredible, and it was only around an hour's drive from his house!

"I'unno." The seventeen year old shrugged. "Nature does some pretty amazing things, I guess?" She slipped her beach bag off her shoulder, tossing it onto the beach of the lagoon just a few feet away, where it miraculously landed upright without spilling its contents. "The cooler?" Vicky pointed at the red and white cooler by Timmy's feet, her right eyebrow just barely peeking over the rim of her sunglasses.

"Hm?" The boy followed the direction her finger was pointing, his eyes eventually settling on the already forgotten cooler. "Oh right. Where should I put it?" He gave the lagoon a quick once-over as he picked the container up, hoping the seventeen year old wouldn't tell him to carry it _too_ much farther.

"Over next to my bag is fine." Vicky nodded at her discarded beach bag, then watched as her charge swiftly carried the cooler over to it, and placed it down in the sand next to her bag, pushing down on it slightly so the cover was flat and level, should they want to use it as a makeshift table. "Y'know, I can't help but notice you're kind of... Dying." She remarked with a grin, a quiet chuckle escaping her.

"What... Phew..." The buck-toothed boy paused, bringing his hand up to wipe some of the excess sweat from his brow. "What do you mean by that?"

" _That_." She pointed at him, thankful that he'd inadvertently emphasized her point for her. "You're sweating up a storm, Twerp. I know it was a bit of a hike to get here, and the cooler _does_ have a few cans of soda, some food, _and_ ice in it, but you might wanna think about... Eh..."

" _Eh_?" Timmy parroted back, tilting his head a little in confusion. "What- What were you gonna say?"

"Well... I _was_ gonna tell you that it might be a good idea to try to build up your stamina, but for one, you _are_ still pretty young, and two, me teaching you to swim should do just that, anyway. Swimming is a full body exercise, you use most of the muscles in your limbs, chest, and stomach to do it... Or... To do it _right_ , at least." The red-head tapped her chin in thought for a few seconds, then shrugged and reached for the hem of her white jean-shorts to begin undoing the button and zipper.

"Um!" The brunet suddenly chimed in, his voice going up several octaves and coming out as more of a squeak before he quickly slapped his hand over his eyes, his cheeks flushing a rosy pink color.

"What are you 'Um'-ing at over-" The older teen looked up at her charge, who continued to face her direction, but was now standing still as a statue, his right hand covering his eyes. "... _What_ are you doing...?" She asked, sounding more exasperated than confused.

"I-I didn't kn-know you w-were gonna t-take your shorts o-off without any warning..." Timmy muttered out nervously, his middle and index fingers separating for just an instant so he could peek out between them, only for the newly formed opening to close just as fast when he made eye contact with his babysitter. "I-I'm just trying to be p-polite..."

"Timmy, there's polite, then there's being a prude." Vicky responded with a roll of her eyes, unzipping her shorts the rest of the way to allow them to slip down her legs and pool at her feet. "And don't get me wrong-" She stepped out of her shorts, then bent down to pick them up before making her way toward her charge. "-It's not like I just go around, taking my clothes off for _anyone_..." She moved closer, stopping just a few feet in front of the boy. "But for one-" She tossed her shorts past Timmy, causing them to land next to her beach bag. "Any boy your age _should_ have at least _some_ interest in a girl's body; it's only natural. And _two_ -" Vicky reached for his wrist, gently curling her fingers around it before pulling it away, revealing the curious blue eyes the brunet was so known for. "You've already _seen_ me in this _very_ swimsuit, Timmy!"

Timmy looked his babysitter up and down, first noticing the amused grin playing at her lips, then allowed his gaze to travel further down her body, causing him to quickly realize she was wearing the lime green bikini bottom that matched the top she currently wore. He'd never really paid much attention to it before now, as it was fairly plain in appearance, but somehow, it was only at that moment that he noticed the string-like design of the girl's swimsuit around her hips. Each side bore a little bow-like knot, and as he thought back to when the girl had had her back to him, he remembered that her top had a similar stringy design, with a little bow at the middle of her back, and another above it, on the back of her neck. In his mind, such a design seemed quite strange, as if the strings ever got caught on something... There wouldn't be much to stop the swimsuit from coming right off.

"I mean, what'd you think? That I didn't bother putting the bottoms on under my shorts? You have _any_ idea how uncomfortable it is to wear jeans with no underwear?" The older teen questioned, her hands now positioned on her hips as she stared down at Timmy.

"Huh?" Timmy looked up to meet her pink-eyed gaze, her voice snapping him out of his reverie. "Oh! Uh... Y-Yeah, actually... Eheh... Good point." He rubbed the back of his head shyly, remembering a few(thankfully brief) situations where he'd needed to 'go commando' as Chester had once put it.

" _Exactly_. Not a fun experience, I'm sure." Vicky remarked absently as she moved past the boy, her focus already shifted back to their current situation. Crouching down in front of her bag, she moved Timmy's towel, carefully placing it next to her as she withdrew a somewhat oversized beach blanket out of the bag and stood up to lay it out on the sand. "Hope you don't mind sharing the blanket. This bag's big, but it was either one big blanket, sunscreen, and snacks; or two smaller blankets, no sunscreen, and no snacks."

"Eh... No, I guess not." The brunet walked over to the blanket and plopped down on it with a muffled thump, then slipped his sandals off to sit cross-legged; leaving his footwear in the sand at the edge of the blanket. "So..."

The red-head knelt back down again, this time on the blanket. "Yeah?" She shifted about in an effort to get comfortable, eventually deciding on sitting on her legs, bent beneath her; then slipping them out from under herself to drop down on her rear end, her legs from the knee down at either side of her thighs and feet pointing behind her so she wasn't cutting off the circulation of blood to them.

Timmy waited until his babysitter appeared content with her position before he continued. "Ah... I was just wondering, when you... Um... Wanted to get started...?" He spoke hesitantly, suddenly feeling a bit nervous as he realized he was actually _at_ the beach. Considering how his last interaction with a sizable body of water had gone, the buck-toothed boy wasn't exactly looking forward to what came next.

"Well first, _you_ need to calm down. You might not be shivering, but I can tell you're nervous about going back in the water." The seventeen year old reached into her beach bag again as she spoke, pulling the sunscreen out of it after a moment or two of feeling around. "Second, I didn't pack a shade umbrella, so unless you wanna be red as a lobster by the time we leave, you're gonna have to put some of this on." Vicky held up a light pink bottle with the word 'Sunscreen' and the number fifty in big, eye-catching font. She then wasted no time in popping the cover open and squeezing a modestly-sized glob of the white lotion into her free hand. "You want me to do you first, or me?"

"Eh... You go ahead." Timmy gestured for his babysitter to go first in applying the sunscreen, figuring that, seeing as how she _was_ a girl, she should go first, hence the term 'ladies first'. _That_ was something Timmy found himself still having a bit of trouble wrapping his head around. The babysitter he'd once thought to be so evil, was in fact, a girl. A very pretty one at that. A very pretty girl that made him feel... Confused. And happy. Content too, when they were just... Enjoying each others' company; along with a fair number of other emotions he didn't quite yet understand.

"Heh... You just wanna watch me put it on, don't ya Twerp?" Vicky shot him a sly smile as she set the bottle of sunscreen down on the blanket and held it between her knees, then started to rub her right hand up and down her left arm, covering it in a thin layer of sunscreen before switching off to the other arm and giving it the same treatment.

"Oh, sorry. If you don't want me to watch..." Timmy began to pivot his body toward the ocean, his head being the last(and for some reason, most stubborn) part to turn away from the red-head.

"Wha-? N-No, I didn't mean-... Jeez, you really _are_ naïve, aren't you?" Vicky couldn't help but let out a few giggles at how modest the boy was. It was a refreshing change of pace compared to how the last boy she spent any significant amount of time around, Ricky; had acted. If he wasn't staring longingly at the wad of cash she got from Timmy's parents, he was ogling her whenever she wore... Pretty much anything that revealed even a little bit of skin. It was flattering, in a way, since someone checking her out _did_ mean she must look pretty good, but knowing what she did now about the teen, it was fairly apparent there was only _one_ thing on his mind. _"And then there's_ this _kid who_ still _doesn't seem to get that I don't_ mind _if he stares..."_ The girl released a low sigh and hung her head once she was sure her charge was no longer looking at her, which in turn caused her gaze to fall on the bottle of sunscreen held between her legs. _"_ _Hehehe... Maybe a little_ fun _will help him calm down... Or not."_

Grinning evilly, Vicky snatched up the bottle of sunscreen again and carefully slid it across the blanket, after which it came to a stop just over a dozen inches behind Timmy. With that done, the red-head reoriented herself onto her hands and knees, then stealthily crept over behind her charge, moving the bottle out of the way before plopping down on rear end and sitting cross-legged like Timmy was.

And despite looking out toward the ocean, the eleven year old was still able to hear the muffled thump that came from behind him, and moved to peek over his shoulder, only to feel slender, strong arms loop around his midsection, then pull him backward. "Ah! Wha-What the-?" Before he could get another word in, the boy felt his butt land squarely in his babysitter's lap, followed by the girl's roaming fingers slipping down to his waist and curling under the hem of his shirt. "Ack-! H-Hey! What are you doing?!" Timmy yelled in half-hearted protest, while at the same time putting his arms up enough to allow the older girl to yank his pink t-shirt off and toss it aside.

"Helping you out of your shirt, obviously." The seventeen year old responded in a matter-of-fact tone, speaking as if helping Timmy out of his clothes was a fairly normal routine for them both.

" _Obviously_! But _why_ are you helping me out of my shirt?!" The brunet shouted as he tried to squirm out of Vicky's lap, which only ended with him being held in place, this time by her right _leg_ as she raised it up over his own and half-curled it around his waist, surprising the boy with just _how flexible_ she was. "Ngh! C'mon!" He grasped her thigh and shin with his right and left hands respectively, trying in vain to free himself from Vicky's seemingly iron-like grip. "Ngah! Hah..." Timmy sighed after one last burst of exertion, giving up once he realized he hadn't gotten the older girl's leg to even budge. "...You have really strong legs." He drummed his fingers against her skin, then gently pinched it between the thumb and fingers of each hand. "Really-Um... Really soft, too..."

"Well believe it or not, I _do_ exercise from time to time... Though you're the first person who's ever told me they're _soft_... Then again, you're also the first person who's ever sat in my lap like this, so I guess that makes sense." Vicky spoke in a mostly calm tone of voice, though there was little she could do about the goosebumps breaking out across her skin as Timmy continued to pinch and poke at her thigh and now, her calf. "You done squirming around now?"

"Mm-mm." The boy absently hummed in the affirmative, frowning slightly as his babysitter released the grip her leg had on him, and slipped it back under his.

"Good, just hold still... Well, mostly still." The red-head grabbed the bottle of sunscreen once again, squeezing a roughly half-dollar sized glob into her free hand before closing the bottle, placing it at her side, and rubbing both of her hands together.

"Oh... If you wanted to help me out sunscreen on, all you had to do was-"

 _Splat!_

Timmy flinched as the cold, ooze-like substance was pressed into his back by his babysitter, making him grimace at the feeling. "Eugh... I was gonna say _ask_ , but that's probably not your style..."

"Was more fun to do it this way." Vicky replied nonchalantly as she continued to spread the sunscreen across the boy's back and rub it into his skin, smirking to herself as he shivered and fidgeted at her touch. "Lean forward a bit."

The brunet did as he was told, bracing himself by holding his ankles to keep from falling forward as he sank toward the blanket; an odd chill running up and down his spine as the older girl's hands moved ever lower, eventually reaching the waist of his shorts, at which point both of her hands moved apart to apply sunscreen to his hips, then up again over his sides. "Y-You're... Pretty good at this, huh?"

"Should I take that to mean you're enjoying yourself?" The older girl questioned, her smirk growing just a bit wider.

"...A little..." Timmy admitted with a slight pout, casting his gaze back toward the ocean as his cheeks pinkened yet again. "I guess since you're... _You_ , I just wasn't expecting... Um..."

"For me to be nice? Friendly? _Gentle_ , even?" Vicky rolled her eyes in amusement, realizing Timmy was evidently _still_ trying to get used to the fact that she wasn't quite as mean or evil as she usually fronted.

"N-No offense..." The boy shrugged his shoulders nervously, only for them to tense up a little as Vicky slid her hands up his back and onto them, giving both a little teasing squeeze.

"You'll have to try harder than that to offend me, kid... But I _am_ curious, did you think I was just some mean girl with a one-note personality? I mean, by now it should be pretty obvious that I _can_ be nice, when I want to be." The red-head took a moment to look her charge's back up and down, before nodding in approval at her sunscreen-application skills. "You're all set, by the way."

"Oh! Um, a-alright..." The brunet gingerly crawled out of his babysitter's lap, then turned back around to face her; dropping down on the blanket to sit cross-legged again. "But then... Why not just be nice _all_ the time?"

"Easy." Vicky responded as she picked up the bottle of sunscreen again and squeezed another glob into her hand. "I don't want to be." Again, she remarked in a rather matter-of-fact tone, rubbing sunscreen onto her face, neck, and chest.

"But why _not_?" Timmy asked, quirking an eyebrow up at the older girl curiously. "You've _been_ nice to me lately, so...?"

" _I'm only nice to the people I like."_ The red-head thought to herself, but opted against vocalizing the thought, as her charge would probably take it the wrong way... Or the right way, she wasn't sure which, at the moment. "And you're _usually_ nice to me, even when I'm acting like an unbelievable bit-... _Witch_. I figure that entitles you to a little... Well okay, maybe a _lot_ of slack." She admitted with a grin, knowing deep down that she was being _far_ nicer to Timmy than she'd planned to initially.

"And... That's it?" The boy asked hesitantly, a tinge of disappointment in his voice.

"Well, no... I'll admit the past couple days have been... Interesting. Aside from the part where you almost drowned, and running into Heather, I've been having... An alright time hanging out with you." The older teen squeezed out more sunscreen for herself, this time rubbing it across the back of her neck, and(with just a bit of difficulty) her own back, coating the rest of her abdomen with the white, lotion-like substance. "...And that's not something I admit about someone lightly, Twerp."

Feeling like he should have _some_ sort of response, Timmy opened his mouth to speak up. "Ah-I um... I've been having fun too! It's... Nice to get to... Actually get to know you?" He stammered out sheepishly, blushing again as he tried to match the girl's compliment with one of his own. "A-And like I said, you _are_... Y'know, p-pretty..." Timmy felt a distinct burning in his cheeks; not necessarily painful in any way, but _definitely_ uncomfortable.

"Oh really? Just when I'm smiling though, right?" Emphasizing her point, the pink-eyed teen shot her charge a teasing little smile, causing him to look away and cross his arms in embarrassment; and thus her, to giggle at his flustered reaction.

"N-No... I don't know _why_ I said 'when you smile'... I meant you j-just _are_ pretty..." The brunet admitted quietly. Were it not for his babysitter's proximity to him, she more than likely wouldn't have heard him over the sound of the waves just a short distance away. He chanced a quick look at her out of the corner of his eye, noticing she was now applying sunscreen to her upper thighs, her hands occasionally slipping down and gliding over the inner area of her thighs as well. It didn't take him long after that to look away once more, as watching the older girl rub herself down with the white lotion made him feel... Strange. It was similar to the feeling he got when he first realized he enjoyed Vicky's company, and that she was pretty, yet it was somehow wholly different, too. Rather than the now familiar warm tingling he got in his chest, this sensation felt like it was somewhere... A little lower. Somewhere near his stomach, or maybe even his gut.

"You're up, then we can _finally_ get to teaching you how to swim!" Vicky slid the bottle of sunscreen over to Timmy, causing it to lightly collide against his foot.

"Can't wait..." The boy replied sarcastically as he picked up the bottle and mimicked his babysitter's actions; carefully rubbing the white, ooze-like substance all over what of his skin was exposed to the sunlight. Once finished, he started to re-cap the sunscreen and set it down, only for Vicky to suddenly crawl over to him and snatch the bottle out of his hand.

"I almost forgot-" The red-head squeezed out yet another, much smaller glob of sunscreen, then dabbed it onto her face with her fingers before closing her eyes as she rubbed it in. "-If there's one place that sucks to get sunburned, it's your face..." She was quick to take a bit more out of the bottle, then leaned forward a little, bringing her hands up to Timmy's face. "Just close your eyes a sec."

The brunet complied with a slight nod, briefly flinching as he felt his babysitter's fingers carefully apply the sunscreen to his face, making sure to trace around his eyes and lips. "Nnh- Y-You don't have to...?" He peeked his right eye open as he felt Vicky's hands stop on his cheeks, then followed it with his left after a moment. She was staring at him. Not angrily or with a smirk, just kind of... Staring. Almost like she was deep in thought regarding... His face? "V-Vicky...?"

" _This frickin' kid..."_ Vicky thought to herself as she stared down at the boy, his expression confused as he stared right back at her with his big, curious blue eyes. _"When did this little Twerp become so damn cute?!"_ She felt her lip quiver a little, her inner thoughts very nearly becoming _outer_ thoughts. It occurred to her to think back on the events of the previous day, when the boy had nearly drowned. What had scared her more? The assumed repercussion she'd have to face if Timmy drowned while in her care, or just the fact in itself that the boy she affectionately referred to as 'the Twerp' might die? _"What would I even_ do _if he..."_ Her thoughts came to a halt, almost subconsciously. She honestly didn't want to think about him being here one day, and just... _Gone_ , the next. The idea hurt, somehow. It was painful and terrible and made the corners of her eyes sting a bit, just like they had when she'd laid him down on the cement walkway around his pool. _"Th-This_ can't _be... I mean, he might kind of... No, he_ must _like me, for whatever reason, but... Do I...?"_

"Uh-Um... A-Are you gonna... Say anything, or...? Vicky, this is kind of... Embarrassing..." Timmy squeaked out nervously, his cheeks blushing a bright crimson as he broke eye contact with the older girl and looked away.

"Oh!" The red-head quickly released Timmy's cheeks, pulling her hands away and allowing them to fall to her sides before leaning away, then kneeling down to sit on her legs bent beneath her. "I was... Thinking!" She exclaimed with a nervous chuckle, a slight blush appearing on her own cheeks.

"Um... Thinking about...?" The brunet, feeling fairly bemused by the older teen's overly simple answer; attempted to press her for information, and leaned toward her much like she had done with him a few minutes earlier.

"Just... Things, mostly." Vicky spoke evasively and shrugged, suddenly feeling like she was being looked at under a microscope. "W-We... Ah... We sh-should probably get started, right?" She questioned in a hopeful tone, wishing the brunet would just forget about about what had just happened. She was not at _all_ ready to deal with... Whatever the weird fluttery feeling in her chest was. _Especially_ because it reminded her of something that had been suggested by a _certain_ stupid dumb blonde idiot she used to be friends with.

"Mngh..." Timmy half-grumbled, half-whined as his shoulders slumped a bit and he hung his head. "I was kinda hoping you'd forget..."

"H-Hey, c'mon..." The older teen, catching a brief glimpse of discomfort on her charge's face, slid forward a little and extended her arm toward him, bringing her hand under his chin and using her index finger to tilt his head up so he was looking at her. "Long as I'm here, you'll be fine. I won't let anything bad happen this time, I promise."

"...I know." He sighed out, genuinely thankful for his babysitter's presence; his lips curling up into a small, shy smile. "I trust you."


	8. Chapter 8

"Rrgh..." Vicky let out a low growl as she stood waist deep in the water of the lagoon, roughly at the halfway point between the beach where Timmy and her blanket were, and the middle of the lagoon itself. "You may be cute, but you know _just_ how to _push_ my buttons, Twerp..." She muttered under her breath, crossing her arms in annoyance. "C'mon already! The water's fine, you're _not_ gonna get a cramp, and even if you _were_ , it's been over an hour since you ate that sandwich!" She shouted over to Timmy, who still stood on the shore of the body of water; his feet half-sunken into the sand from the little waves that washed over them.

"I-I am!" The brunet shouted back, yet held his ground as he eyed the stretch of water between himself and his babysitter warily. In truth, the distance between them couldn't have been more than fifteen, maybe twenty feet at the most, but for Timmy, it felt like Vicky had swam out to the middle of the ocean, and now wanted him to do the same.

"Mmph..." The older teen hummed as she breathed a huff of air out through her nose. "Timmy, look. The top of your head comes up to about here on me-" She brought her hand, oriented so her palm was facing down toward the water; over to the middle of her chest, positioning it between her breasts at the little green string that stretched between the cups of her bikini. "-And as you can see, the water only comes up to my waist." She gestured down at her waist with a little wave of her hand, before settling both hands on her hips. "You know what that means?"

"That... I probably don't even have to... Swim to get over to you..." The boy admitted self-consciously as his cheeks took on a familiar pink hue, his gaze cast downward at his feet.

"Very good~!" The red-head spoke in a somewhat condescending tone, as if she were congratulating someone who didn't know any better for pointing out something that was common knowledge. "Now... Get your butt over here so we can get started!" She commanded in a friendly tone, dropping the condescending inflection as the barest hints of a grin formed on her lips.

"Agh... I... I dunno about this..." Timmy replied nervously, rubbing his shoulder as his mind raced back to the day before, reminding him of how helpless he felt as he fell in the water, and started to sink almost instantly. Yes, Vicky had saved him, and he _knew_ she'd do it again in a heartbeat, but that didn't mean he fancied reliving that terrifying event again so soon... Or at all, really.

" _Son of a-... What do I have to do to get this kid in the water?!"_ Vicky mentally screamed as she blinked her eyes closed; feeling a vein in her forehead begin to throb thanks to her growing impatience and annoyance. _"He_ told _me he trusts me, but evidently that isn't enough... So what-"_ The red-head's eyes shot wide open as a light bulb turned on in her head. The idea was so simple, she could hardly believe she hadn't thought of it sooner! "Hm... I wonder if he's even interested in that sort of thing... One why to find out...!" She mumbled to herself as she tapped her chin in thought, then refocused her attention on Timmy again. "Hey Timmy?"

"Yeah?" The brunet looked up from the water, meeting the pink-eyed gaze of his babysitter.

"I've got a... Proposition for you." Vicky shot the boy a teasing little smirk, quirking an eyebrow up at him as he seemed to perk up at the word 'proposition'. "You come out here with me... And _stay_ out here so I can teach you to swim, and I'll... Give you something."

It was Timmy's turn to quirk his own eyebrow up at the girl. What could she possibly give him? The only things she had were her bikini top, the matching bottom, and possibly a hair tie. The food, drinks, blanket, towels, _and_ sunscreen were still with him on the beach. "Something like... What, exactly?"

"Well~..." The older teen drawled out coyly as she crossed her arms under her chest, slightly pushing her breasts up as she did. "How about a kiss?"

Were it not for the crashing of the waves against the shore, and the occasional call of a seagull overhead, the lagoon would've been dead quiet as Timmy simply stared in awe at his babysitter, wondering if he'd just heard her right, or if he was finally losing his mind due to the stress from the idea of going back in the water. "...A what?" The boy blurted out flatly, his face turning neutral and inexpressive.

"You heard me, Timmy." Vicky replied in a mildly sultry tone, her eyes half-lidded as she stared at her charge. "All you gotta do is come over here and get it. Not too hard, right?"

"Wha... N-No, but..." The boy's face quickly flushed a bright crimson once again as he realized that yes, his babysitter _had_ just said what he thought she did. And under normal circumstances, Hell, just a day and a half ago; the offer wouldn't have interested him in the least. It _was_ Vicky offering the kiss, after all. He could barely stand being _near_ the girl, never mind coming in physical contact with her.

But then he fell in the pool, and things between them had suddenly changed. She'd not only saved his life(despite being the one to push him into the water in the first place) and taken him to the hospital just to make sure he was alright, but also agreed to take the time to _teach_ him how to swim! Needless to say, his perception of the red-haired teenager had been completely turned on its head.

Most confusing of all though, she actually _liked_ being around him! In fact, the buck-toothed boy was starting to wonder if the older girl might like _him_ , rather than just being around him. From what he could tell, she occasionally acted a bit like her younger sister around him, but nowhere near to the oppressive levels Tootie did. Sure, she'd managed to catch him off guard when she'd grabbed him and pulled him into her lap, but he most certainly hadn't _hated_ the affectionate gesture... And while he still wasn't _really_ sure what it was he felt for his babysitter, he knew he enjoyed her company, and just plain being around her. "So... A kiss?"

"Mm-hm." Vicky nodded and hummed. "I saw the way you reacted back at the car, kid. You were surprised, but ecstatic too! And who could blame you? I _am_ pretty, after all, aren't I?"

" _Pretty manipulative..."_ The brunet thought to himself as he absently scratched at his nose with his index finger. Still, to his eleven year old mind, a kiss was a kiss, and he wasn't about to pass on getting one from a pretty girl. "Y-You'd better keep your word!" Timmy considered attaching some kind of threat to the end of his sentence, but honestly, what _could_ he threaten the older teen with? Again, this _was_ Vicky he was talking about. Sure, she was nice to him, but it didn't change the fact that she was still one of the most terrifying people in Dimmsdale, and definitely _not_ someone an intelligent person wanted to cross.

"C'mon, Twerp." Vicky chuckled to herself, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. "Would I lie to you?" She winked as she finished, which Timmy responded to by sticking his tongue out at her.

" _Okay, I can do this... It's just water. Water that's not even_ that _deep!"_ The boy mentally coached himself before wriggling his feet out of the muddy sand and taking a tentative couple of steps forward, only to stop and look down toward his feet as the water reached up to just below his knees.

"Any day now, Twerp." The red-head remarked in amusement, earning her a less than intimidating glare from her charge.

"I _am_. Just... Gimme a sec..." Timmy briefly closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, then exhaled, doing his best to calm his racing heart. At first, he thought it might be the idea of going back in the water doing it, as he _was_ nervous about being in deep water again, but at the same time, his heart rate had seemed to quicken not from the water rising up along his body, but from his growing proximity to his babysitter. _"Argh... It's like trying to talk to Trixie all over again..."_ The blue-eyed boy thought to himself, realizing Vicky felt a bit like Tootie, in how she acted and her somewhat affectionate gestures, and like Trixie as well, in regards to how _he_ felt around the dark-haired girl and now, the red-head. She was like both of them, and neither of them at the same time. _"Ugh, I need to stop thinking about this stuff for a while... It's starting to give me a headache..."_ He began to move again, taking a few more steps forward and causing the water to reach the middle of his thighs, then higher, making him flinch as the water, comparatively cooler than the warm beach air, washed over a rather _sensitive_ area.

"Jeez, should've brought something to read..." The older teen muttered to herself, though she made sure she was loud enough for Timmy to hear her.

"I'm almost-! Gah!" The boy exclaimed in frustration, finally having enough of his babysitter's teasing as he harshly slapped the water with his right hand, sending a fairly large splash of water at her.

"Ah-Heehee!" The older teen brought her arm up to shield her eyes as she was thoroughly soaked by the splash of water, only to lower said arm and reveal her face after a moment, her eyes narrowed and lips curled up into an evil grin. " _My_ turn...!"

"Uh- No, wait a sec-!" Before Timmy could complete his sentence, Vicky reared her leg back, then swept it through the water in front of her nearly as fast as lightning.

 _Splash!_

"Ack!" The brunet barely had time to react as an actual _wave_ of water crashed into him, the force knocking him flat on his rear-end and leaving just his head from the chin up above the surface. "Ptah! N-No waterbending! That's cheating!"

Vicky wobbled back and forth for a moment, the sheer force of her kick leaving her off balance in the water. "Pfft, you asked for that one!" She shot back with a grin as she at last regained her balance in the water, and stood up straight once more. "Seriously, I'm trying to be nice, giving you swimming lessons, _and_ offering you a kiss _just_ to get you in the water, and you go and splash me?! You're such a brat!"

"Hmph!" Timmy stuck his tongue out at the girl again, this time blowing a raspberry at her as well. "Takes one to know one!"

"Yeah yeah... Here." The older girl bent over slightly and extended her arm toward Timmy, her hand just a few inches from his face.

"...Thanks." He took his babysitter's offered hand, allowing her to pull him to his feet with little effort. "Uh, s-so... I'm out here...?" The boy stammered out nervously, his cheeks flushing a light pink color.

"Yep. I knew you had it in you." Vicky, still leaning forward a bit, brought her hand up to her charge's hair; gently running her fingers through it and ruffling it.

"Ah-! H-Hey!" Timmy raised his arms up to try and swat his babysitter's hand away, only for her to quickly withdraw her hand from his hair, leaving him to flail his arms at nothing for a brief moment. "Argh... We had an a-agreement!" He frowned in annoyance as his blush slightly darkened in color; crossing his arms over his chest childishly.

"Did we?" The older teen tilted her head to the side, bringing her index finger up to her lips in mock-confusion as she pretended to not know what the boy was talking about. "Drawing a blank here, Twerp. What did we agree on, exactly?"

"Rrgh..." The brunet let out a muffled growl at the red-head's antics. _"Should've known I'd jinx myself by saying she's being a lot nicer... Just wouldn't be Vicky without the_ friendly _teasing..."_

"Oh right!" Vicky snapped her fingers, acting as though she'd just remembered her and Timmy's little deal. "I said I'd give you a kiss if you came out here, right?" She raised an eyebrow at the boy questioningly, earning her a bit of a glare, though she found it more cute than intimidating. "Mm... See, the thing is, I _would've_ given you a kiss... But then you got all angry and splashed me! I dunno if I should really _reward_ bad behavior like that, y'know?" She tapped at her chin with her right index finger in thought, crossing her left arm over her chest and using it to hold up her right.

"Wha...? B-But you said-! Th-That isn't fair! I came out here like you asked me to!" The brunet whined out, not noticing the amused smirk playing at the seventeen year old's lips. "And besides, all I did was get you wet! How is that so-..." He trailed off as he noticed Vicky begin to snicker, his look of worry over missing out on getting a kiss being replaced by one of confusion. "Wh-What's so funny?"

"Hehehe... N-Nothing kid, just... Phrasing... Heehee!" The older teen's snicker turned into a light fit of giggles as Timmy only seemed to become _more_ confused by his babysitter's reply. "Ah... Anyway, don't get so riled up. I'm a girl of my word, don't worry..." She settled her left hand on her hip, which she raised up slightly, posing in a way that sort of reminded Timmy of a teapot. "But y'know, I never did say _when_ I'd kiss you, Timmy..."

"What- W-Well no, but..." The brunet stumbled over his words, Vicky's response completely blindsiding him. "What... About right now? Can't you just... I-I mean, it's not like... Anyone would _see_ or anything..." He felt his cheeks burn even hotter, realizing he was now just short of _begging_ his babysitter for a kiss.

"Just what _kind_ of kiss do you think I'm gonna give you, huh Twerp?" The older girl questioned knowingly, her teasing smirk not fading in the slightest. "A kiss on the cheek is hardly that big of a deal... Why should I care if anyone sees me give it to you? ...Or..." Her smile widened, just barely exposing her pearly white teeth. "Did you have somewhere _else_ in mind? Is my little Twerp feeling not so little all of a sudden?"

"Mngh..." Once more, a muffled growl sounded from Timmy's throat as his cheeks blushed bright red and he crouched down to sink into the water, stopping just before it touched his nose. After a moment, he released a sigh, the air rising to the surface of the water in the form of several bubbles.

"Hehehe! And you wonder why I like to tease you so much!" The red-head kicked off the sandy bottom of the lagoon, gently flinging herself backward, and closer to the center of the large body of water. "You're just so cute when you're all flustered!" She moved back a few more feet, coming to a stop and touching down on the bottom of the lagoon once more, the water now _just_ barely reaching her shoulders. "Now, since I can't really bribe you with a kiss anymore, why don't we call this next part a test? As you can probably tell, _this_ part of the water _is_ over your head, so if you wanna come out here with me, you're gonna _need_ to swim!"

"Blargh-" Timmy opened his mouth to speak, only to realize a moment too late that it was still beneath the surface, causing his voice to come out sounding like more of a gargle, and seawater to flow into his mouth. "Agh!" He quickly rose to his feet, spitting a small stream of water out of his mouth. "Bleh! ...H-How am I supposed to get out _there_?! I _can't_ swim, remember?"

"Seawater has more salt in it, Timmy. You float easier in the ocean than you would in a lake or pool." Vicky called over to him, raising her voice a little to make sure he could hear her over the sound of the waves crashing against the shore. "Just remember to paddle with your arms and kick your legs and you'll be fine!"

"Ugh... Easy for _you_ to say... You don't sink like a rock..." The brunet muttered to himself, nervously eying the stretch of water between himself and Vicky. She wasn't quite as far away as she had been the first time, when he entered the water from the beach; but then, the ground had stayed firmly beneath his feet the first time too. _Now_ , the water she stood in was unmistakeably above his head, meaning he would quite literally have to sink or swim to get out to the older teen.

"C'mon, kid!" Vicky shouted over to him; a small, reassuring smile gracing her lips. "Nothing bad is gonna happen. The second things start to look iffy, I'll come right over to you, alright?"

" _Argh..._ Why _does she have to be so good at reassuring me?!"_ The eleven year old thought to himself, gulping audibly as he took a few shuffling steps forward, each one making his body dip a bit deeper under the water, until reaching his neck, at which point he paused for a brief moment. "Phew... Okay, um... H-How should I... C-Can't you just come a little closer?"

" _No_ , Timmy. I can't." The older teen responded firmly, crossing her arms with just a tiny bit of impatience. "You're already almost here, just swim over to me; kick off the ground if you want, but it's important that _you_ come to _me_ , not the other way around."

"Oh... Why do you have to be right about this stuff?!" The brunet whined, making a vain attempt to reach out toward his babysitter, though his eleven year old arms weren't nearly long enough to bridge the eight foot stretch of water between them.

"Because I'm an adult." The girl shrugged indifferently. "Now come on, you've stood up to _me_ when I've been unfair, I know you can be brave when you want to be." Vicky mentally cringed at her own words. It _really_ wasn't her style to give little encouraging speeches like this, but she and Timmy _were_ alone, and he clearly needed it.

"Barely an adult..." Timmy muttered under his breath. If all this time hanging out with Vicky had taught the brunet anything, it was that his babysitter was almost as much of a kid as he was, she just had a height advantage and a head start on him when it came to age. "Ah... A-Alright, here I... Come!" He kicked off from the sandy bottom of the lagoon with all his might, practically throwing himself forward in the water. Once he felt his momentum start to die down, he swept his arms out in front of him, briefly parting the water in front of him as he continued kicking his legs, the water behind him erupting in a cacophony of splashes and watery blooping sounds. _"_ _Come on... Almost... There!"_ With one final kick using both of his legs, Timmy closed the distance between himself and Vicky; instantly wrapping his arms around the back of her neck in a tight embrace as he reached her, his head coming to rest on her shoulder as he panted for air.

"Ah! H-Hey! Heehee!" To Timmy's surprise, Vicky returned the hug, catching him in her arms and wrapping them around his midsection as he held onto her, seemingly for dear life. "Relax, relax... I've got you..." The red-head gently relayed the message in her charge's ear, and felt him relax a little as she finished.

"Hah... Hah... I need... To rest for a minute or two..." Timmy managed to get out between gasps for air, the kicking and flailing of his limbs from trying to reach Vicky having tired him out.

"I'm not surprised; we're gonna have to work on your technique...?" The seventeen year old trailed off as she felt the boy in her arms gently nuzzle his cheek against her shoulder, seemingly content with the hug she was inadvertently giving him due to having to catch him when he reached her. "J-Jeez, Twerp... You part tree frog or something? C'mon now, you did fine for your first attempt, so what's wrong? Does being in water this deep still freak you out?" She slowly released the boy, sliding her hands up along his body to settle them on his shoulders, before giving them a slight push back, allowing her to look him in the eye.

"It's not that... Or... Well, I guess it kinda is, but..." Timmy smiled shyly, breaking eye contact with his babysitter as he sheepishly rubbed the back of his head, keeping his left hand on her shoulder to keep from sinking. "I just... Um... I like... H-Hugging you." He squeaked out, voice barely above a whisper. "E-Ever since I hugged you at the hospital, you've been a lot nicer to me, and I... I like it when you're nice, but I... I like hugging you. They're nice." He blushed furiously as he finished. "Y-Your hugs, I mean." He wasn't sure why he felt the need to clarify, but upon seeing the older girl raise an eyebrow at him, some part of his subconscious told him it was a good idea.

"Hmph..." Vicky brought her hand up to her face, slightly tilting her head down and butting her forehead against the palm of her hand in a lame attempt to cover the obvious embarrassment on her face. "Twerp, when you have an advantage over someone that they don't know about, you're not really supposed to _tell_ them about it... You realize you basically just _admitted_ to using hugs to get me to be nicer to you, right?" She looked at the brunet incredulously. Despite having a sneaking suspicion about what he was doing the whole time, she hadn't expected him to come out and just _say_ it... Then again, this _was_ Timmy. He probably felt like hugging her to get his way was dishonest, or like he was using some weakness she had against her.

"Ah... Y-Yeah, but it... It didn't seem fair to hug you without it... Um..." He trailed off, wondering how best to word his next sentence. "Without it...Well, _meaning_ something. I thought you'd be nicer to me if I just gave you a hug, but... Rrgh... _Why_ is this so hard to say?!" Timmy exclaimed frustratedly, wishing the words would just come to him, rather than making him look like a babbling idiot as he tried in vain to find them. "I want-! ...To hug you b-because I _want_ to, not because I might get s-something out of it, or because you'll be nicer to me afterward... If that makes any sense..."

"Because... You want to..." The red-head pouted in thought, realizing what she'd just heard was probably the closest thing she was going to get to Timmy confessing his affection for her. "...Alright..." Vicky shrugged her right shoulder, causing Timmy's left hand to slip off it, only to be quickly snatched up by her right hand. "Maybe you're not such a kid after all, Twerp..." She pressed her palm flat against his, then curled her fingers inward, bidding that he do the same as she interlaced her fingers with his somewhat smaller ones. "Any idea about what you might be feeling?"

The brunet nodded. "N-No, not really..." Truthfully, he didn't _have_ an idea in regards to what he was feeling, but he was _getting_ one. The strange fluttery feeling in his chest, his nervousness around Vicky, and the fact that he honestly _wanted_ to be close to her... While he _was_ only eleven years old, he wasn't stupid. All the signs pointed to him having some sort of a crush on his babysitter, a crush he was becoming more and more conscious of.

"No? ...I guess I shouldn't be surprised, probably don't have much in the way of experi-..." Vicky trailed off, an idea forming in her head that near instantly made her cheeks take on a noticeable pink tinge. She _knew_ as soon as the idea came to her that putting it into action would without a doubt come back to bite her in the ass in _some_ way, but what fun was life without taking a risk here and there? Wasn't it better to take a chance, rather than sit around and let life pass you by?

"Well then... If... You'd like, I could y'know, maybe teach you a bit about _that_ , too?" The older teen wanted nothing more than to punch herself in the face after asking her charge something so undeniably _cheesy_ , but somehow, she managed to restrain the urge, and patiently waited for his response.

"A-About... What I'm f-feeling...?" The boy stammered out nervously, his heart skipping a beat at the older teen's offer.

"Sure." Vicky kicked off the sandy bottom of the lagoon once again, keeping her fingers firmly laced together with Timmy's as she towed him out toward the middle(and deepest part) of the natural pool they were in. "I mean, I've only had _one_ boyfriend, and it barely lasted a week, so I'm... Kind of rusty, but if you... Don't mind it being _me_...?"

"N-No..." Timmy slowly kicked his legs up and down as Vicky pulled him along, doing his best to hide his worry at being in water that was well above his head. "I don't mind at all." He shot her a small, shy smile; the fluttery warmth in his chest returning in full force.

* * *

A/N: Sometimes, I write something that at the time sounds just fine, but when I go back, I realize it's so cloyingly sweet that I get cavities, or feel like I need to take some insulin. The ending part of this chapter gives me that feeling. Also, time to change this to romance... Because I'm weak, and can't _not_ write romance.


	9. Chapter 9

"...How much do I know about what?" Timmy questioned as he swam slow, counterclockwise circles around Vicky, holding her right hand with his left, his momentum causing her to spin in place in the water as she acted as a sort of anchor point for the eleven year old.

"You know... Dating and stuff. Relationships. You're still chasing after that... What was her name? Trixie? You've got some huge crush on her, according to Tootie, so I mean... Why do you like her?" The red-head allowed herself to gently spin in place as Timmy swam around her, the motion not quite fast enough to make her dizzy.

"Well... Because she's pretty." The boy stated matter-of-factly, stopping for a moment to tread water, though Vicky's hand remained firmly in his grip. "I... Guess I never put a whole lot more thought into it than that. Trixie always has a whole line of guys asking her out during lunch, sometimes they give her gifts, sometimes they just try their luck and talk to her..."

"And you?" The red-head grinned, secretly proud of how far Timmy had already come regarding his swimming abilities. Her Twerp was obviously a quick learner, and so long as she kept his mind preoccupied with conversation, he didn't seem all that nervous being in the water... Though she had a sneaking suspicion that her presence played a part as well.

"I... I guess... I do that too. I try talking to her at lunch, I get her gifts for her birthday or... When she makes them a requirement to even _approach_ her... Though she or Tad and Chad usually just get that bodyguard of theirs to throw me across the cafeteria..." Timmy frowned as he thought back on his near endless string of failed attempts to ask out Trixie Tang. "Sometimes I wonder if I'm just wasting my time..." He muttered under his breath, not quite wanting the red-head to hear him.

"And _how_ many times has Tootie tried to tell you she's just a shallow idiot? More than a couple, so she told me, anyway." Vicky chimed in as she reached for Timmy with her left hand, then pulled her right in and let it drop to her side to give it a rest. This in turn caused Timmy to reverse direction and hold onto her with his right hand, then begin swimming clockwise circles around his babysitter. "Should probably make a habit of listening to your friends a bit more, just sayin'."

"Ugh... That's just Tootie trying to get me to go out with _her_ instead!" Timmy exclaimed in frustration, knowing he _was_ to blame in this scenario, as while Tootie more than likely was trying to help herself to a certain extent, there were some days where taking his bespectacled friend's advice _would_ be preferable to spending time on someone who might never even acknowledge him in the first place.

"Probably, yeah." Vicky remarked with an indifferent shrug. "There's not really any denying that Tootie's been crushing on you for... A good three years now. It's kind of funny, really. She's too stubborn to give up, and _you're_ too stubborn to give in!"

"W-Well it's... It's not like I can just _make_ myself like her..." The boy spoke with a slight frown, noticing the sun was almost directly above them in the sky. "I do... I like being friends with Tootie. She can be a lot of fun to be around, and Chester and AJ both like hanging out with her too, but..."

"Hm... But _maybe_ Chester and AJ are the issue here..." The red-head thought aloud as she tapped at her chin with her index finger.

"Huh? How are they an issue?" Timmy paused to tread water again, gently kicking his legs back and forth to keep his head above the surface of the water.

"I was just thinking that maybe you're sort of... Putting up a kind of front around them; subconsciously. You're still at that weird age where most boys think girls are strange or even 'icky', so you always turn down Tootie because of how they might react... Also shut up, I _already_ know what you're thinking about." Vicky quickly added, the annoying tune of 'Icky Vicky' beginning to play in her head just from mentioning the song.

"Just the thought of being around you makes me oh so sicky~..." Timmy sang along to the tune now playing in his head as well, only trailing off once he noticed the cold glare his babysitter was giving him, along with the feeling of her grip suddenly tightening. "Eh... S-Sorry, it's... Kind of a catchy tune- Er... N-Not that it's t-true or anything!" He quickly stammered out in a lame attempt to save face and keep from incurring the seventeen year old's wrath. "I-I like b-being around you!"

Vicky continued to stare at the boy for several more seconds, before at last releasing a loud huff of air through her nose and rolling her eyes. "You have _no_ idea how lucky you are that you're cute, Twerp. Any of your friends said that, I'd leave 'em out here to learn to swim on their own." She could tell from the audible gulp Timmy let out that she didn't _need_ to speak in a low, dangerous tone, but figured it did a good job conveying the sincerity of her threat.

"Th-Then I guess I _am_ p-pretty lucky... Hehe-Eh..." The brunet resumed swimming slow circles around his babysitter, a somewhat awkward silence having fallen over the lagoon that was broken only by the occasional crash of a wave against the nearby rocky shore and cliff face.

"Huh... Now what were we talking about...?" Vicky finally spoke up, tapping her chin with the index finger of her free hand.

"Uhm... Something about me... Putting up a front around AJ and Chester?" The boy offered sheepishly, eager to get back on more friendly terms with the red-head.

"Oh, right. Well... _Do_ you think you do that? Are you going after Trixie because everyone else your age is? What would you honestly do if she actually gave you the time of day? Do you want to date Trixie because you really _do_ like girls at your age, or because she's some kind of goal to reach at the end of a competition between all the other boys trying to get her attention?" Vicky railed question after question at Timmy, hoping to force him into giving serious thought as to _why_ he was going after this 'Trixie', a girl she only knew of thanks to the very boy she was with and, of course; her sister.

"N-No, I want Trixie to notice me so we can... Go out..." Timmy stammered out, his babysitter's series of questions having more of an effect on him than he wanted to admit. The thought never really occurred to him before, but just _what_ would he do if Trixie said yes to dating him? She was a bit older than him for sure, so she probably knew at least a _bit_ more about dating than he did, but what did he even _want_ from dating her? A kiss? Her attention? Bragging rights, even? Thinking on it now, Timmy realized how simplistic his thinking had been. The dark-haired girl had little in common with him at all, aside from the one time he found out she liked comic books and video games as much as he did, something she'd never _once_ brought up again after it happened.

"'Go out'?" Vicky parroted back at the boy, raising an eyebrow at him. "And then? What comes next? _You_ have almost _no_ experience with dating, and if Trixie turns away as many guys as you say she does, chances are she barely knows anything more than you do about dating."

"W-Why are you asking me all this anyway?" The brunet finally stopped to tread water again, sweeping his left arm back and forth in the water while kicking his legs, his right hand still firmly gripped in the red-head's so he wouldn't drift away-or worse-sink. "I _know_ Trixie's not... I know she probably doesn't even realize I exist half-... _Most_ of the time, but... But I've already been trying to get her to notice me for so long..." He trailed off, his eyes dropping down to look at the sandy bottom of the lagoon, rather than meet Vicky's gaze.

Maybe she was right. Maybe Tootie was too. Trixie couldn't even bother to remember his _name_ , nevermind agree to go out with him; and he already felt ten times closer to Vicky than he ever did to Trixie, and this was the very same Vicky that used to make him absolutely miserable on a daily basis!

But then what could he do? The thought of giving up on Trixie ever giving him the time of day _had_ crossed his mind on more than a few occasions, but what would he do after that? It felt odd to just give up on a goal he'd held onto for so long, yet if he had no hope of reaching it, wasn't that the smart thing to do? _"I guess... There_ are _other girls out there..."_

"Yeah well..." The older girl suddenly spoke up, trying to think of a way to cheer up her charge, or at least reassure him. "You're still young; making dumb decisions is just part of growing up, so don't be too hard on yourself when you make them... I mean, look at me! I'm _seventeen_ and I still screw up... Every now and then..." Vicky finished in a self-conscious tone, her cheeks bearing a slight pink coloring.

"I guess..." Timmy admitted with a low sigh, his head tilting back up to make eye contact with his babysitter once again. "So then... You said you'd teach me about... Relationships and dating and... Other stuff." He felt his cheeks heating up as he talked, and wasn't entirely sure if it was the midday sun or his embarrassment that was to blame. "I-I'm just wondering, what does that... Y'know, make us? What are we doing?"

Vicky had to stifle a giggle as the boy looked at her. It had been a while since she'd seen him look so helpless and confused over something, and it almost felt strange that he was asking _her_ of all people for guidance. _"Aw... Aren't you cute when you're feeling needy?"_ She mused to herself, then opened her mouth to speak. "We are... Testing the water."

"Wha? N-No, I _know_ we're swimming, I meant what are _we_ doing? Like... You and I? B-Because you said you'd t-teach me...?" Again, Timmy stammered his words out as his cheeks blushed a furious red. He didn't _dare_ presume that he was _dating_ _**Vicky**_ , considering how she'd reacted to the implication her friend Heather made back at the hospital; but then what _were_ they doing? Should he treat this as a sort of student/teacher relationship? And what if his feelings got in the way? He knew he was at least _starting_ to like her... In more than just a friendly way, but did she like him... Like that? It felt like a stretch to assume so, but Vicky was at least more pleasant to be around lately, easily more pleasant than Trixie had ever been to him... Well, the _real_ him.

"Like I said, Twerp. We're _testing_ _the water_." The older teen spoke with a somewhat forceful inflection in her tone as she gave her charge's hand a light squeeze.

"O-Okay...?" The brunet looked down at his hand, then back up at Vicky, her statement and rather simple gesture only serving to leave him even more confused.

"...It means we're testing things out, Timmy." Vicky finally deadpanned with a smirk. "We don't exactly know a whole lot about each other, despite _knowing_ each other for about three years, so I figure we could... Kinda just hang out more often to start. Instead of you going up to your room to talk to your fish after school, you and I could..."

"Watch TV together?" The boy offered, his blue eyes bright and hopeful.

"Uh... That's... Well yeah, I guess so, if that's what you wanna do. I was thinking maybe hanging out at the park or... I dunno, the mall; but sure, I wouldn't mind just relaxing for a day." The red-head found she had trouble keeping the uncertainty out of her tone. She knew part of it was due to how long it had been since she'd made plans with anyone, let alone _relationship_ -type plans; and she _did_ feel a kind of giddy excitement at the idea, but then, this was also _Timmy_. He didn't have the foggiest idea about... Well, anything to do with... _"Should I call this dating?"_ She wondered to herself. _"The kid probably thinks it is, and... And maybe it is. I'm not_ just _teaching him, after all. I'm probably gonna have to..._ Demonstrate _, too..."_

"W-Well we don't _have_ to just watch TV. We could play video games or... Or like you said, go and hang out at the mall..." Timmy nervously scratched at his nose, only for his eyes to suddenly widen at the realization that began to form in his mind. "Ah-Just-! I'll have to see what Chester, AJ, and Tootie are up to on the days that we do, so we d-don't... Run in to them...?"

"Oh? And why's that?" Vicky questioned with a sly grin and pulled Timmy a bit closer to her, instantly capitalizing on the opportunity to tease her Twerp. "Are you embarrassed to be seen in public with me? Am I just supposed to be your secret girlfriend, Twerp?"

"Huh?! N-No! I just- I th-thought you'd _wanna_ keep it a s-secret! After how you acted when Heather mentioned us going o-out, and... You... D-Did you just call yourself m-my girlfriend?!" The brunet practically developed a full-on stutter as he spoke, his cheeks now feeling like they were blazing with heat rivaling that of the sun beating down on them overhead.

"Heehee-Ahaha!" A few giggles escaped Vicky after a moment, soon followed by a fit of loud, amused laughter at how flustered Timmy had become. "J-Jeez! Relax, Twerp! Hehehe! I'm just messing with you!" She continued to giggle like a schoolgirl, and quite _unlike_ herself, before taking a deep breath to get her laughter back under control. "Ah... It's so easy to get you all flustered!" She remarked with a genuine smile, nearly laughing out loud once again as she saw Timmy's dumbstruck expression.

"What- Y-You... Of course you were messing with me...You're _you_." The brunet spoke dryly as he rolled his eyes, shooting his babysitter a deadpan stare of his own.

"Oh... Look at you, trying to be intimidating!" The red-head extended her left arm again, putting Timmy at arm's length once more.

"Agh... Can't you just let up on the teasing for a little bit?" The boy questioned in a mildly pleading and weary tone. "I'm still getting used to swimming and us being friends and... And you-Ah!" Timmy's expression quickly shifted from flustered to somewhat disgusted, then rapidly into horror as he shot forward, releasing his babysitter's hand and instead wrapping his arms and legs around her lean frame with a shout.

"Ack! Wh-What?! What's wrong?!" The seventeen year old threw herself and Timmy to the right, in the direction of the shore of the lagoon that held their towels, food, and sunscreen, far enough that she could stand on the sandy bottom of the lagoon, and thus keep both herself and Timmy above the surface of the water.

"M-My foot touched s-something weird and slimy and... Yucky toes!" The brunet exclaimed as he wrapped his limbs ever tighter around his babysitter and squeezed his eyes shut, holding onto the girl for dear life just as he had before.

"Y-Yucky wha...?" The red-head looked over toward where Timmy had been swimming to see there was a patch of wispy seagrass a bit longer than the other nearby ones. _"Yucky toes."_ Vicky mentally deadpanned with an unimpressed frown. "You're serious?" She glanced down at her charge, still clinging to her in apparent fear of the big bad patch of seaweed. "Timmy, it's just some _seaweed_! What'd you think, a shark got in here and tried to eat your foot?" With a bit of effort, Vicky managed to wriggle her arms out of Timmy's grip, then settled her hands on his shoulders, giving both a light push to try get him to release her. "Argh... Come... On! Just-! Nngh!" She groaned in exertion, trying in vain to release herself from the boy's tight grip, but finally gave up; taking a second or two to catch her breath so she could try again. "...Treefrog."

At this, Timmy finally peeked one eye open, following shortly after with the other, before looking over his shoulder, and then up at his babysitter. "You're sure it was just some seaweed?"

Vicky remained silent, responding with little more than a frown that asked, 'Really?'.

"W-Well how was I supposed to know?" The brunet asked as he uncurled his legs from around the older girl and allowed gravity to pull him down into the water, his arms remaining coiled around her body as they slipped down her back and waist, only releasing their grip once his feet touched the bottom of the lagoon. "It's not like I go in the ocean when I go to the beach, I dunno what's in the water..."

"Considering this is a natural pool too small to support anything big enough to even fit your hand in its mouth... I'm gonna go with fish. Very small, harmless fish."

"O-Oh... Um... I didn't- ...Sorry about... _That_ , then." The brunet looked away, his cheeks stained pink with embarrassment for having overreacted to something as nonthreatening as a _plant_.

Vicky crossed her arms and hung her head with a huff. "What am I gonna do with you? ...Maybe we should call it a day. I'm getting hungry, and all this sun and teaching you to swim is tiring me out." She stretched her arms up over her head as she spoke, punctuating the end of her sentence with a yawn.

"Uh yeah, I'm getting kinda hungry too, anyway." Timmy agreed without a second thought, quietly sighing in relief as he excitedly moved past his babysitter and toward the shore that held their beach blanket, towels, and the cooler.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't you eat before we even _got here_?" The seventeen year old spun around in the water to face her charge and the shore he was rapidly closing in on; leaning forward a little and settling her hands on her hips as she shot him a knowing look.

Timmy slowed down a little as he reached the shore, only stopping once he was out of the water and standing in the thick, muddy sand on the shore. "Yeah..." He admitted hesitantly as his eyes locked on the cooler, then slowly spun around on his heel to face his babysitter as he heard the loud sloshing of her footsteps behind him in the water. "But you _did_ pack-" The brunet suddenly paused and stared at his babysitter with his eyes wide and his mouth agape in complete shock.

"Yeah?" The red-head questioned in a somewhat disinterested tone as she tilted her head to the right and wrung the water out of her vibrant red hair with both hands. When she didn't get a response, however; she focused on her charge more intently, quirking an eyebrow up at his apparent stunned silence. "What? Never seen a girl wring her hair out before?" She asked in an amused, yet bewildered tone; releasing her hair and tilting her head back to a normal angle.

"The-..." Timmy tried to speak, only managing a single, low mumble before his voice seemed to just fade out with a low whimper, causing him to gulp audibly. "You-Your..." He pointed at her with his index finger, which she simply stared at in confusion. "Your sw-swimsuit... The... T-Top is... Um-"

"My what? Swimsuit?" She questioned in bemusement, before finally looking down at herself, her own eyes widening once she realized what Timmy was having so much trouble pointing out. Down by her feet, her left foot specifically, was a piece of lime-green fabric, partially wrapped around her ankle thanks to the small waves lapping against the shore of the lagoon. And far above _that_ was her chest, now free of the top part of her bikini and exposed; both modestly-sized breasts topped by a round, pink nipple, roughly the same diameter as a quarter, and slightly erect from the cool sea breeze hitting Vicky's damp flesh, still dripping with water.

Quick as lightning, the seventeen year old brought her arms up and wrapped them around herself, covering her now exposed breasts. "T-Turn around! R-Right _now_ , Twerp!" She very nearly shrieked in embarrassment, her face turning a bright cherry red as she watched Timmy flinch at her tone, continue to stare at her in awe for a moment, then at last turn around once he realized he was seeing something he most definitely was _not_ supposed to see.

"Ah! S-Sorry!" The boy, despite having turned completely around; slapped his right hand over his eyes, his own face nearly the same color as Vicky's. "I-I didn't r-really see anything for m-more than a sec, so-"

"J-Just stop talking!" The teen interrupted, her eyes locked on her charge; ready to yell at him the moment he even _thought_ about turning around to get another sneak peek at her chest. "D-Don't you _dare_ turn around, Timmy... I mean it!" She shot the back of his head a steely glare as she crouched down and retrieved her bikini top, then rose to her feet and momentarily uncovered herself just long enough to _re_ -cover herself with her bikini top. "Frickin'... How did that even happen...?" The girl muttered to herself quietly as she tied a knot in the string that made up the back part of her top, followed by another one to secure the first, and then one more at the back of her neck, where the top's second pair of strings were supposed to be tied. "O-Okay, you can- Wait!" She suddenly exclaimed, causing Timmy to quickly face forward again midway through turning around to face her. "Just need to..." The now thoroughly embarrassed red-head gave each cup of her bikini a light tug, followed by the string that held the(admittedly) skimpy piece of clothing together. Upon noticing it hadn't loosened in the slightest, she spoke up again with a sigh. "Hah... Alright, I'm pretty sure I took care of the wardrobe malfunction..."

"So... I can turn around _now_...?" Timmy asked slowly, his tone full of hesitance.

"Yeah, it's fine..." Vicky remarked with a pout as she crossed her arms, inadvertently pushing up the very part of her body she'd been trying to cover just a moment ago.

The brunet _slowly_ turned around in place, his blue orbs settling almost instantly on his babysitter's chest, and not just because it was almost level with his gaze. _"Wonder why she made such a big deal about me seeing her chest?"_ He thought to himself, now noticing that beneath the girl's bikini top, there were still two little pokey... _Things_ , one on each side of her chest. _"And why are there..."_ He chanced a quick look down at his own chest, taking note of the obvious difference between it and Vicky's. Mainly that while his was flat, Vicky had two... Lumps, he supposed. He'd always noticed that most girls and women sort of just _did_ , but before now, he'd never put much more thought into it than a sort of passing acknowledgment.

Yet now, the fact was... Intriguing, somehow. There was something about these 'lumps' that he found indescribably _fascinating_ , though in far less wordy terms, mainly due to his age. But this did little more than create a new dilemma for the brunet, as for whatever reason, he wanted to... Well, see them again. Maybe more than just see them, as while they were interesting to just _look_ at, some part of him wanted to touch them, see how they felt and... He wasn't sure. It was an odd feeling, not unlike wanting the latest issue of The Crimson Chin, or the newest video game in one of his favorite series.

Only... How was he supposed to see them? Vicky's reaction to losing her top had made it abundantly clear that whatever these 'lumps' were, they clearly weren't meant for his eyes, not while they were bare, anyway. "Uh... Vicky-"

"So how much-" The red-head interjected rather suddenly, unknowingly cutting Timmy off. "...Did you see? And... And be honest."

"Er... Y-Y'know, just... Those...?" Timmy pointed at her chest, noticing the expression, somewhere between uneasy and annoyed; on his babysitter's face. "You-or most girls-have... Um..."

"Th-These?" The red-head gestured down at her own chest with the quickest of glances, reestablishing eye contact with her charge after less than a second. "They're... They're called boobs- Eh... Breasts. You don't...?" She trailed off, realizing that at Timmy's age, no, he probably didn't know what they were. "Well they're mostly for... Uh... Y'know how cows have udders?" Vicky asked, feeling her cheeks heat up once again as her voice went up several octaves.

Timmy nodded simply, feeling just a bit confused by where this conversation was headed.

"See, cows have udders for feeding their young, just like... Most mammals do. Cats, dogs, deer, elephants... Even whales have-Uh..." She trailed off again, wondering just how far she should take her impromptu biology lesson. "Th-The point _is_... Humans are mammals, so girls and women have... Boobs." Vicky finished somewhat flatly; breaking eye contact with her charge and looking toward the ocean somewhat evasively. "And uh... Unlike with a cow's udders, boobs are... Usually a lot nicer to look at."

"No argument there." Timmy blurted out, instantly agreeing with his babysitter, much to her immediate chagrin.

"J-Jeez, how much of a little perv _are_ you?" The seventeen year old stammered out in visible surprise, her eyes widening ever so slightly at the boy and his quick response.

"I-I'm not a perv!" Timmy shot back in a childish whine. " _Crocker's_ a perv, always trying to follow me home and prove that I've got fairies or something... I just... I was just agreeing with what you said! Those lum- Your b-boobs? They're... Nice to look at..." The boy felt a mildly oppressive wave of heat wash over his body, made worse by the hot sun beating down on both himself and Vicky. "B-Besides, you said yourself that I _should_ have an interest in a girl's body at my age!" He protested in annoyance, using Vicky's earlier argument against her.

"I- You're- That's not- ...J-Just don't make a habit of... Staring at them." The red-head responded in a somewhat defensive tone, feeling like her charge's eyes were boring into her. "Or... If you have to, like absolutely _have to_ , I guess..." Yet again, Vicky found herself at a loss. What could she possibly say? She knew some part of her... Didn't _hate_ the attention she was getting from her Twerp, even if he _was_ probably a little too naïve to really understand it himself, but she couldn't shake the feeling that she was... Corrupting him, in a way. And unfortunately, she knew the next words out of her mouth would only strengthen that feeling, but at the same time... She honestly couldn't quite bring herself to care. "L-Look, I'll... Make an exception for you."

"Huh? ...What kind of exception?" The brunet asked, intrigued by the older teen's offer.

Vicky sighed, remembering that thanks to Timmy's aforementioned naivete, there were a great many things she'd have to explain to him, especially if they were going to be 'trying things out' as she had rather inelegantly put it a short while ago. "I mean that... You shouldn't- _Stare_...At other girls' chests. It's a good way to get slapped, even if you _are_ young. So what I'm saying is...Wh-Why don't we sit down for a bit and take a break? I'll, eh... Explain it over lunch..."


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Sorry for the late update to this fic, and in general. Been thinking on new ideas since I finished the last fic, and just as I was putting them into practice, I caught a cold. :(

Luckily I'm better, for the most part, so hopefully I can get back into the swing of things, starting with this update! Thanks to everyone for being patient, and I hope you enjoy.

* * *

Timmy released a loud huff of air from his nose as he laid on his stomach on the blanket he and Vicky were sharing, his chin resting on the soft fabric with his arms stretched out in front of him; and his gaze directed at a small piece of loose thread that had apparently broken off, but not completely detached; from the blanket at some point.

The boy would occasionally flick or tug at the tiny string in an effort to alleviate his boredom, but even that had, unsurprisingly; grown dull and uninteresting fairly quickly.

"Argh... Quit huffing and puffing, Twerp!" Vicky loudly remarked over a mouthful of the sandwich she was eating, taking the time to chew and swallow it before she continued. "Ah... It's only a little past two, so we'll probably be here another hour, then there's driving back, and even after _that_ , your parents probably won't be back until nine or ten! _More_ than enough time to..." The seventeen year old trailed off, realizing that if she considered how _very little_ Timmy probably knew about his _own_ body, nevermind a girl's... _"Shit, I've got my work cut out for me... Eight hours won't be anywhere_ near _enough time to explain-"_ Another thought occurred to the red-head, cutting her first one short. _"Where should I even_ start _?!"_ She thought to herself, her eyes widening just a little.

"Ugh!" The brunet flipped over onto his back, his arms thrown up and laying above his head on the blanket while his legs were fully stretched out and parted slightly, making him look like someone who had just collapsed after running a marathon and was now trying to relax. "I can't help it! I'm _so_ bored!" He gazed up at the palm tree they'd positioned the blanket under for shade, watching the fronds sway back and forth from the sea breeze.

"Well you should've brought a game or book or... Something." The red-head tipped backward off her legs, which she'd been sitting on in a sort of kneeling position; and stretched them out in front of her, bending her right knee as she braced her right hand against the blanket, propping herself up with her arm. "Could always go back in the water and paddle around for a bit, maybe build a sand castle... There's more than enough to do around here to keep you from getting bored, Twerp."

Timmy frowned at his babysitter, letting out a low grumble that sounded a bit like a growl, since he didn't open his mouth. "Then _you're_ gonna just pretend that you never said you'd teach me about relationships and girls and stuff, just like when you said you'd give me a kiss if I swam over to you." He turned over onto his side now, propping his head up in his hand to face the older teen fully. "I'm not _that_ stupid, Vicky..." After another moment, his eyes absently trailed down her body, stopping on her cream-colored thighs, specifically her right one, which was closest to him.

Remembering how soft her skin had felt when she pulled him into her lap to put sunscreen on him, Timmy reached out and prodded the smooth, slightly damp skin with his free hand, eventually dragging his finger back and forth across it before finally pressing his palm against it and moving his hand up and down along the side of her thigh. There was something oddly pleasant about the contact, and Timmy found himself slowly drifting off into a bit of a trance, his gaze focused entirely on the girl's leg, and how it felt to touch it.

Vicky, meanwhile; eyed the boy with no small amount of curiosity as she ate her sandwich and he continued to unknowingly(she assumed) massage her leg. She could tell from the look in his eyes that he enjoyed touching her like this, and the same thought had occurred earlier when she'd pulled him into her lap, but there was a certain something about the _way_ he touched her that intrigued her, in its own way.

Unlike Ricky, who at times seemed hellbent on getting her clothes off just so he could... Well, _try_ to have sex with her; she was fairly confident that Timmy was still too young to understand what sex even was, nevermind actually _want_ it. His little touches and caresses weren't hungry and roaming, they were mostly just curious and explorative, his hand never getting too close to the front or inner part of her thigh, nor did it move too close to and linger on her butt. The contact was, much like Timmy; entirely innocent, and that gave the red-head a warm, fuzzy feeling of excitement, strange as it was.

"Nnf. Bored now." Timmy remarked with a huff, turning over to lay on his back once again before interlacing his fingers together and settling his hands on his chest.

"Shocker." Vicky deadpanned sarcastically, speaking over another bite of sandwich. "If you're getting bored just sitting here, how do I know you're gonna listen to me when I explain all this relationship stuff to you? Not all of it is _interesting_ , Timmy. Some of it'll probably sound pretty boring to you, since you're... Well, just a kid." The red-head took a final bite of her sandwich, then tossed a bit of the crust away, toward the ocean; she'd never been a big fan of the crust.

"I am not _just_ a kid!" The boy turned his head to look at his babysitter, trying and failing once again to give her a convincing glare. "You even said I wasn't such a kid a little while ago, when I-... When I said that I wanted to... Hug you..." He spoke hesitantly, eventually trailing off in a low tone as his cheeks began to show the clear signs of a blush. It perplexed him as to why he tended to get embarrassed talking about hugging his babysitter, but again, he figured that had something to do with the explanation the older teen was going to give him... Assuming she ever would.

"Well- A-Alright fine, you're not _just_ a kid, but... But there's... A _lot_ of stuff I- _We_ need to cover, and I... I don't really know where to begin." Vicky admitted with a lopsided frown, rubbing the back of her head with her left hand. "I'm still trying to wrap my brain around this whole 'you liking me' thing..." She spoke in a low, muttering tone as she finished, her gaze evasively drifting toward the lagoon again.

"Oh..." Timmy responded, feeling a bit shocked at hearing his babysitter's admission. The girl always seemed so sure of herself most of the time, it was a bit strange to see her blushing and speaking in such an... Uncertain way. This certainly didn't _appear_ to be the same Vicky he grew up with, though he knew that it was. She'd had a few moments in the past where she treated him nicely enough, and he'd even managed to 'bring out' a nicer Vicky a few times, with Cosmo and Wanda's help, of course, but...

All this made him wonder, was this 'nicer' Vicky always there from the get go? There was no magic involved this time, no threat to either of their lives that forced them to at least coexist; all he'd done was hug her, show her a bit of gratitude and affection at her old friend, Heather's; suggestion. And now they were 'trying things out', apparently. If someone had told him that he'd not only be friends with, but in the beginnings of a relationship with the babysitter he was once all too happy to call evil, he'd more than likely think they were completely out of their mind.

The call of a nearby seagull made him flinch a little, the sudden noise shaking him from his thoughts, and making him remember the red-head not two feet across from him on the blanket. "Um... Wh-What about... What we were talking about earlier?" He questioned with a bit of a quiver in his voice, wondering if Vicky would hear him out, or shoot down the question as soon as he voiced it.

"...Which part?" The red-head quirked up an eyebrow in curiosity, her lips forming a bemused frown.

"Uh... Y-Y'know... You m-mentioned how it... Would be bad for me to look at girls' boob- Breasts!" Timmy quickly corrected himself, the blush on his cheeks turning a near-luminescent red. "S-So, um... Y-You also said you'd make an exception f-for me, and... Um..." He trailed off in a higher, squeakier tone; breaking eye contact with his babysitter when it felt like her gaze was starting to pierce right through him.

"...I did." Vicky nodded in agreement, already having a pretty good idea where this conversation was going. "Wh-What, didn't get a good enough l-look when my top slid off a little while ago, Twerp?" She asked in an amused, somewhat teasing tone, though her blushing cheeks and the stammer in her voice easily gave away her embarrassment.

"No-Er... Yes-! Um..." The brunet quickly sat up, tucking his legs underneath him to sit on them as he oriented his whole body toward the older teen, his hands settling on his lap nervously. "I k-kinda saw them, but- Um... If it'd be alright with y-you, maybe...?" Timmy struggled to find the right words as his heart pounded against his ribcage, the sound more than audible in his ears over the sea breeze and the far-off sounding crashes of the waves against the shore.

"Eheh... N-Normally people... This is usually saved for later on, when two people have dated for... At least a little while..." The red-head chuckled nervously as she slid backward across the large blanket she and Timmy shared, her back a little over a foot away from the palm tree they were using for shade. "B-But..." She bit her lower lip, though not nearly hard enough to draw blood; and looked around the lagoon, then over to the trail they'd used to get down to it. She doubted anyone would come around this late into the afternoon, as most people came to this spot around mid to late morning, and even then, she doubted the lagoon was all that well-known, the only people that _she_ knew who knew about it being her, Heather, Tootie, and now, Timmy. _"No way Heather's coming down here today, not this late; and Tootie doesn't even have a way_ to _get to the beach..."_ She cast her gaze back over to Timmy, who fidgeted a little upon making eye contact with her.

The seventeen year old couldn't deny that there was something exciting about the situation. Timmy clearly trusted her quite a bit, and she could admit(to herself) that he was different, in a way; from the other kids she babysat. The two of them had been through quite a lot, more than normal babysitters and their charges had by a longshot. She felt weirdly comfortable around the eleven year old, and part of her had an inkling that he, in turn, felt comfortable around her(even if he was shivering a bit, at the moment).

Then there was the fact that she was quite aware of her own attractiveness. Ricky had found her attractive, most of the boys she went to school with found her attractive, though they knew her well enough that they didn't _dare_ approach her; and Timmy had even told her outright that she was pretty. She certainly hadn't _needed_ the confirmation of what she already knew, but that didn't mean it was unappreciated, either.

All these factors, along with maybe a hint of youthful playfulness and naivete; made the girl seriously consider her Twerp's request, though not without a fair bit of hesitation. "W-Well, um... I guess... It's alright, since y'know... It's you and all..." Vicky felt her face heat up even more the moment the words escaped her, and she again glanced around self-consciously, just to make sure she and Timmy were still the only ones around.

"R-Really?" Timmy spoke up, unable to completely contain the excitement in his voice, his body leaning forward just a hair.

"Y-Yeah, I'm- I'm not made of stone, y'know... And I still owe you, since I didn't give you that kiss in the water..." Vicky slid back a little more, gently pressing her back to the trunk of the palm tree so she didn't have to hold herself up with her arm, which by now had grown tired.

In turn, Timmy crawled forward on his hands and knees, stopping to tuck his legs and sit on them again once he was right next to his babysitter, just a few inches to her right.

"Okay, um... L-Look, just don't get... Any funny or... _Weird_ ideas, got it? No... _Doing things_ without me telling you you can, or... Or asking me first, alright?" The red-head attempted to shoot her charge a glare by narrowing her eyes at him, but the effect was diminished by the nervous, lopsided frown her lips formed. Part of her knew that what they were doing was... Not necessarily wrong, but not necessarily 'right', either. It was exciting and naughty, and made her skin tingle with goosebumps, while her heartbeat seemed to quicken, the organ feeling a certain degree of excitement itself from the situation.

Timmy nodded in understanding, absently wondering what his babysitter meant by 'weird ideas' as he watched her gently settle her hands near the bottom of her ribs, then gingerly slide them up her chest, coming to a stop at the bottom of her bikini, the index finger of each hand slipping under the lime-green fabric.

After another pensive moment, the red-head slid her hands up, her bikini top catching on her index fingers and sliding up off her breasts, while her hands followed it, covering up her now exposed flesh. She felt a renewed sensation of warmth wash over her almost immediately, her whole body feeling like it was blushing, much like her cheeks had.

"Um..." Timmy hummed quietly, his gaze transfixed on Vicky's still covered chest.

"Would you-!" She snapped at him, then caught herself, her expression softening somewhat as she again looked away. "I-It's not like I d-do this for anyone... Or at all, for that matter... I'm a little... Nervous, that's all."

The seventeen year old _hated_ admitting any sort of weakness, especially to someone younger and less experienced than her, and even if it _was_ Timmy she was making said admission to, that didn't make her feel any less self-conscious.

"Ah, um... Okay, then..." Timmy glanced down at his lap, the whole situation leaving him at a loss. "I'm..." He looked up again at his babysitter, taking a moment to scratch at his nose out of nervous habit. "...Not gonna make fun of you, or anything...?"

"Who said anything about making fun-" The older girl caught herself again, realizing that, as bad as he was at it; Timmy was simply trying to reassure her. She couldn't really expect him to know what to say; he was still young, and was probably at more of a loss than she was. "...I know _that_..." She remarked in a knowing tone, feeling a bit of her confidence come back. "Besides, you should already know that if you tell _anyone_ about-"

"I-I won't!" The boy interjected quickly, cutting the girl off. "I a-already know that this place, and anything that h-happens here is supposed to be s-secret!"

"Ah... G-Good, glad I don't... Have to tell you." Vicky nodded once, casting yet another glance toward the trail they'd used some time earlier. _"C'mon! Stop being a coward and just do it! It's just the Twerp! You're still gonna be his babysitter if you do! You're still gonna be in charge!"_ She mentally coached herself, her hands beginning to slip down her chest subconsciously, in turn causing her fingers to lightly brush against her nipples, making them a bit erect. "One m-more thing!" She leaned toward the boy a bit, her hands pausing in their descent.

"Er... Y-Yeah...?" Timmy flinched, his gaze snapping back up from Vicky's chest to meet hers.

"If... If I'm gonna be teaching you about this stuff and... And showing... Well, _me_ to you... No more of that idiot, Trixie, got it? I know you go to school with her, and obviously you're gonna talk to her, but wasting your time chasing after her? Trying to get her to go out with you? That's done, understand? You- You're _mine_ now, alright?" Remembering just _who_ it was she was talking to, Vicky made sure to word what she wanted to say as questions. She wasn't about to _force_ her Twerp into anything, but she _was_ going to make sure he knew the stakes; if they were going to go any farther, he was hers and hers alone.

"S-So... Like dating then? Like... You and me?" Timmy's mouth formed a sort of zigzag due to the conflicting emotions he was feeling. He was by now quite aware that he liked Vicky, so long as she wasn't constantly acting like the evil babysitter he grew up with, so he was thrilled to hear that she at least wanted to _try_ being... Well, more than friends, but at the same time... He was honestly a little scared by what the red-head had just said. She was acting just a _tiny_ bit like her younger sister, though he could understand why she was. _He_ certainly wouldn't like sharing a hypothetical girlfriend with another guy...

"E-Eventually, yeah..." The seventeen year old nodded hesitantly, knowing they'd both have to work their way up to _actually_ dating, as they'd said earlier. "We'll... Hang out after you get out of school, play video games, maybe go to the mall... The stuff that... Friends do."

"What about kissing?" The brunet blurted out, not even taking a moment to think until the words had already left his mouth, at which point he blushed furiously and looked away ashamedly. Much to his chagrin, he was having immense trouble keeping his inner thoughts from becoming _outer_ thoughts. A kiss from Trixie had always been a sort of subconscious goal for him, but as he got older, he came to realize that a simple kiss on the cheek from a pretty girl didn't define a relationship, and Vicky _certainly_ wasn't like Trixie. There was more to her than her appearance, and while he got the feeling it'd take more than gifts to make her happy, he actually _wanted_ to try. Something about seeing the red-head smile was uplifting for the brunet, though the reason for it continued to escape him.

"Wha- N-Not..." Vicky retreated a bit, leaning her back against the palm tree once more. "I m-mean, you're... Still kind of young for-... Well... I guess a kiss on the cheek or forehead wouldn't hurt every now and then..." She frowned a bit, realizing she was making it sound more and more like her and Timmy would be sneaking around. If she was being honest with herself, the boy's age really wasn't a concern. If people had a problem with them dating and said so... Then they'd soon _really_ have a problem with her. She wasn't about to let anyone tell her who she could and couldn't date, and she had more than a few contacts in her phone to get her out of nearly any sort of trouble she found herself in. _"Lucky me that mom and dad can be pretty influential..."_

Timmy continued to watch his babysitter; noticing a sort of far-off look in her eyes that suggested she was deep in thought. Part of him wondered what she was thinking, but another part, more grounded in the here and now, and maybe just a bit childish; was feeling kind of impatient. "Ahm..." He quietly cleared his throat, causing the older girl to perk up from her thoughts and look at him, her cheeks still significantly pinker than they usually were.

"Ah... A-Anyway, just- Just remember what I said, don't do anything... Weird. And don't go telling your Twerpy little friends that you got to see my boobs, or... Or I'll bury you out here!" A feeling of nervous anger swept over the red-head, again making Timmy flinch as she unintentionally snapped at him.

"I won't!" The brunet put his hands up defensively, palms facing his babysitter.

Rather than respond, Vicky simply nodded, then released a breath she wasn't even aware she'd been holding. "Phew... Okay then, um... Y-You can come a... A little closer, if you want..." She responded in a much quieter voice, the angry tone from moments ago completely gone.

Knowing another opportunity like this might not present itself again for a while, the buck-toothed boy crawled closer to his babysitter on his hands and knees, before rocking back to sit on his legs again.

" _Alright, now or never, I guess..."_ She slowly let her hands slide down, only just now noticing how tired her arms had become from holding the same position for so long. Just before her index fingers slipped off her nipples, however; she slipped her hands right back up, covering her breasts with them once more, earning her a look of shocked disappointment from Timmy. "...Heehee! J-Just messing with you!" An amused, nervous giggle escaped Vicky upon seeing her charge's expression, before she finally slid her hands _up_ her chest to hold the cups of her bikini top, revealing her bare breasts to the brunet.

For the second time that day, Timmy had an unimpeded view of his babysitter's bare chest, though unlike the first time, he now had the chance to appreciate the sight, so long as he didn't break any of Vicky's vaguely described rules. It was now that he noticed that, despite having put on sunscreen, the red-head had a tan, made obvious by the bikini-shaped area of lighter skin on her chest. It wasn't a particularly heavy contrast, as the sunscreen they'd used had clearly done its job, but being this close to her, it was noticeable enough, even with his eyes focused primarily on the two lumps of flesh she'd referred to as breasts.

Each was a pale, off-white cream color, save for what the bikini she'd been wearing hadn't covered, and both were topped by a pink nipple, close in color to the girl's lips, and in roughly the same place as the nipples on his own chest were, though understandably, his chest was considerably flatter than hers.

What confused and vexed the eleven year old most, however; was how bizarrely alluring these 'breasts' were. His eyes seemed to focus on them instinctively, ignoring anything else happening around him, and even the sounds of the beach had seemed to somehow become far-off and muffled. Worst of all, he was beginning to think that the two enticing mounds on the girl's chest _had_ to be magic, in some way. To the brunet, it didn't seem _too_ farfetched, considering the existence of fairy godparents and magic genies that lived in lava lamps, and it was the only reason he could think of for why he got the nagging desire to reach out and touch them, see how they felt in his hands, despite Vicky explicitly telling him not to. In fact, it almost seemed worth it to _try_ , even with the consequences she had stated, but left very much unclear.

"Jeez, Twerp. Why don't you take a picture, it'll last longer..." Vicky muttered out, her gaze focused entirely on the trail they'd used to get down to the beach.

"Wha-? Take a picture? But I... I don't have a camera...?" The eleven year old looked up at his babysitter, his face bearing a quizzical expression.

"No, I mean-..." The girl averted her gaze from the trail, focusing her attention on Timmy once more. "I _know_ you don't have a camera, it's an expression you say when someone... Just _stares_ at something or some _one_... Like you're doing."

"Oh." The brunet frowned slightly. "Then... What _else_ am I supposed to be doing?" He questioned, getting the odd feeling that he wasn't supposed to disclose his silent desire to reach out and touch his babysitter's chest.

"Uh..." Vicky felt her blush burn a bit hotter. "Y-You're asking me?" She turned away yet again, her eyes locking on the weathered wooden steps of the trail. "H-How should I know?"

"But- But you _just_ said that I was 'just' staring! I figured you'd... Have _some_ idea..." The boy remarked in frustration, wondering in the back of his head if Vicky was simply messing with him again.

"Well... Why not, y'know, try your luck?" The girl offered somewhat nervously, shifting her weight back and forth on her rear-end before apparently becoming satisfied with her position. "Wh-What've you got to lose, right?"

" _My life, for starters...According to you, anyway..."_ Timmy thought to himself, his left hand unconsciously flexing its fingers as he reconsidered the lingering desire in the back of his mind. "And... You're not gonna get mad or... Or hit me or anything?"

"...I will not punch you." Vicky admitted after several seconds of consideration, directing a mildly cautious stare at her charge.

"Wish that reassured me more than it did..." The buck-toothed eleven year old sighed, resigned to the soon to be realized consequences of his next actions, be they good or bad.

Moving at what amounted to a snail's pace, Timmy leaned his body forward, lifting his left hand at the same time and extending it toward Vicky's chest, the seventeen year old eying him carefully the entire time, looking more like a wild animal waiting for its opportunity to strike than his attractive, slightly scary babysitter.

Mere centimeters from his fingers making contact with her bare, right breast, he hesitated and stopped, his hand simply hovering in front of her chest. "Um..." He scooted forward on the beach blanket, leaving less than a foot of space between them, and not daring to make eye contact with the girl now, knowing her striking pink eyes would only make what little courage he had drain away.

Another moment passed, and as he began to close the last few centimeters of distance between his hand and Vicky's chest, he rotated his wrist a little, his hand oriented in such a way to allow him to 'cup' her breast, exactly what he did when he finally made contact, his fingers ever so carefully curling around the modest mound of flesh.

To the brunet's surprise, Vicky's breasts, boobs... Whatever she preferred to call them; didn't feel like water balloons, like he'd expected, but more like actual, very slightly squishy parts of her body, like he realized they should have. Her skin felt soft and warm, while predominantly smooth as well, save for her nipple, which seemed to poke out a bit in response to his touch and cause a chain reaction in the rest of her skin, making it bristle with goosebumps.

"Huh..." Timmy breathed out in wonderment, finding that yes, there was something oddly exciting and almost... Gratifying about holding this alluring mound on his babysitter's chest. The specifics of it eluded him, young as he was, but he somehow felt... Warmer, and not just from his blushing cheeks. There was a strange heat in what felt like his gut, a blooming warmth that felt like something waking up for the first time. It perplexed his young mind to no end, but the feeling itself was at the very least, pleasant.

Vicky, meanwhile; continued to watch her charge with bated breath as he gently groped her right breast, seemingly testing its pliancy, while at the same time sliding his fingers in tight back and forth motions across her skin, now that it was covered in goosebumps. She felt a bit odd letting another person touch her in such a way, even _odder_ considering it was her Twerp, but then, she wasn't exactly used to _anyone_ touching her at all, nevermind in a somewhat intimate(even if Timmy didn't realize it) way.

Before long, the brunet brought his right hand up, his fingers delicately sweeping up across her skin, before carefully curling around her left breast, comparing the feeling of it against her right one. _"_ _They're_ really _soft..."_ Timmy mused to himself, as he slowly and nervously brushed his thumb against her erect left nipple. _"Except here..."_

After another moment, the red-head let down her guard a little so she could relax, the back of her head coming to rest against the trunk of the palm tree she was reclining against as her eyes slid closed. _"I suppose... This is alright... Twerp's not gonna do anything_ too _weird at his age..."_ "Nnh..."

"Huh?" Timmy suddenly asked upon hearing the odd noise from his babysitter, thinking she'd said something when he wasn't paying attention.

"What?" The seventeen year old's eyes shot wide open, her surprised pink orbs meeting vibrant, curious blue ones that were now mere inches from her face. "Gah-!" The girl tipped to her left in surprise, slipping off the trunk of the tree and falling flat on her back, the sand of the beach beneath the blanket cushioning her fall. "Wha- Why'd you get in my face like that?!" She looked up at her charge, now partially hovering over her, a hint of concern evident on his face.

"I-I heard you m-moan or something, I thought... I might've done something wrong and squeezed too h-hard, or... Um..." Timmy blushed in embarrassment and glanced away, worried his inexperience had somehow caused his babysitter some discomfort. "Y-You were, um... Biting your lower lip too."

"Biting my...?" Vicky frowned bemusedly, only to blush beet-red as Timmy's words sunk in. _"Biting my lip and moaning... Jeez! Was I seriously getting turned on just from him-?!"_ The girl cut her thought short and stamped it out, her body growing increasingly warm just from the mere acknowledgment of what had just happened. "Ah... M-Maybe we ought to pack up and head back to your h-house, all this... _Excitement_ is tiring me out." She attempted to offer as nonchalantly as she could while sliding her bikini top back down, only to take pause as she came up against a bit of resistance. She tilted her head down to look at her chest, finally noticing that Timmy's hands were still on each of her breasts, explaining why he was partially on top of her. "Um... Y-You can let go n-now, Twerp..."

"Ack!" The eleven year old bounced backward as if he'd been burned, landing squarely on his butt as he put his arms up defensively and shrank back. "S-Sorry!"

"Oh would you stop?" Vicky remarked exasperatedly, shaking her head back and forth as she fixed her top. "I would _never_ hit you and you know it, Timmy." The girl pushed herself to her feet, watching as her charge slowly lowered his arms, letting them come to rest at his sides. "Now, how about helping me get everything together so we can go?" She bent forward, offering her right hand to the boy.

"A-Alright." The brunet nodded, taking her hand and allowing the red-head to pull him to his feet. _"That... Went better than expected..."_


	11. Chapter 11

"Phew!" Timmy breathed a sigh of relief as he placed the cooler they'd brought with them back in the car, setting it on the floor behind the driver's seat before placing the bag that held the sunscreen, towels, and beach blanket he and Vicky had used on top of it. "That was a lot easier the first time..." He wiped his brow, then tugged on the front of his t-shirt a few times, sending short gusts of air over his mildly sweaty abdomen.

"First time wasn't uphill." The girl remarked in a matter-of-fact tone from her position next to the hood and in front of ajar driver's side door. "We didn't forget anything, right?"

Timmy gave the cooler and beach bag a quick once-over. "Nope, doesn't look-" He turned to face his babysitter, only for his gaze to fall squarely on her rear-end, still clad in the lime-green bikini bottom; as she bent over to pull her white jean-shorts up her legs, the lingering dampness on her skin and swimsuit causing the shorts to catch on her somewhat ample bottom, until she gave them another quick tug and pulled them on completely, then zipped them and fastened the button. "Uh..." Once again, the eleven year old found himself admiring a part of his babysitter, and not knowing _why_. This time was especially perplexing, as _everyone_ , whether they were male or female, had a butt, with some being bigger and more round than others. So _why_ exactly was _Vicky's_ so distracting and nice to look at?!

"Is that an 'Uh' like, you're not sure, or an 'Uh' like..." The red-head stood up straight and looked over her shoulder when her charge failed to respond, only to realize he was staring at something decidedly further south than the back of her head. "...You're staring at my ass."

"Hm-Wha?" Timmy looked up at his babysitter, who slowly turned in place to face him, then crossed her arms and shot him a flat, unimpressed look, easily communicating to the boy that he'd been caught. "Er... Is... Is that bad?" He questioned innocently, watching the girl cautiously as she stepped around the ajar driver's side door and in front of him, then bent down slightly, though she still towered a good several inches over him, her proximity forcing the brunet to look up at her.

"Hm... That depends, Twerp." Vicky stepped forward and to her right, moving not unlike a predator circling its prey as Timmy turned to his left to continue facing her, his back now to the car. "But first, I wanna know what _you_ think." She brought her right hand up, jabbing her index finger into Timmy's chest and applying a bit of pressure to push him backward.

"Um..." _"Definitely bad."_ The boy thought to himself, before taking a step back due to the light yet firm pressure being exerted on his chest, causing him to stumble as the back of his left calf collided with the side of Vicky's car's door frame, which in turn caused him to awkwardly fall backward into the car's backseat with a cry of surprise. "Ah!" He landed with a muffled thump and began to push himself back up by bracing his hands against the seat. "H-Hey... Why'd you-" Before he could finish, the seventeen year old was upon him, her left knee on the lid of the cooler, and her right pressing down on the seat in the space between his legs, just a few short inches below his crotch. Meanwhile, she braced the palm of her left hand against the floor of the car behind the passenger seat, and leaned on her right arm, now bent at the elbow and settled just above Timmy's head; laying her forearm straight across the seat, the position leaving her hovering mere inches above her charge.

The girl kept that position for several seconds, the only noise being the far-off sound of waves crashing against the shore, and the occasional gust of wind disturbing the foliage surrounding the small parking spot the car was located in. "I'm waiting~..." She at last spoke, her warm breath ghosting over the boy's lips.

"I... I dunno, I guess... Bad? I sh-shouldn't have looked at your b-butt?" Timmy stammered out, his cheeks flushed a deep pink due to his babysitter's closeness.

"Is that what you think? Ya _sure_ ~...?" Vicky drawled out, the left side of her mouth tugging up into a smirk.

"Ye- Eh... N-No...?" The brunet's eyes darted around in his head, searching the older girl's face for an answer it didn't hold. "I know y-you said I _sh-should_ be curious about... A girl's b-body, but..."

"C'mon, Timmy. Why're you getting all _nervous_? It's only _me_..." The red-head sank a few inches closer, the tip of her nose gingerly touching Timmy's as her ponytail slipped off her back, over her left shoulder and dropped down, brushing against his right cheek.

"Th-That's exactly _why_ I'm n-nervous!" The eleven year old whispered out harshly. "Wh-Why are you getting so c-close?! And h-how am I s-supposed to know if looking at your butt is bad or n-not? I don't know what I should or _shouldn't_ look at!" Timmy's whispered tone came out heavy with frustration, the little push from his babysitter and her sudden closeness-coupled with the questions she was asking him-making him think he'd done something wrong without even knowing; strange and alien as the concept of a relationship with the older girl was to the brunet.

Again, the red-head responded with silence for a few seconds, her lips twitching a bit as she continued to stare down at Timmy with a smirk. Before long, however; she tilted her head down a little, her forehead gently bumping against his as a faint giggle escaped her, leaving Timmy confused, but ever so slightly more relaxed by the sound of said giggle. "Heehee... _Teaching_ you about this stuff is gonna be fun..." She titled her head back up, her vibrant pink eyes meeting Timmy's bright blue ones. "But _messing_ with you? _That's_ gonna be a blast...!" The girl started to pull away, but before doing so, brought her left index finger up to her mouth and touched it to her lips, then turned it around and gently pressed it to the brunet's mouth. With that, she pushed herself up and retreated backwards out of the car, leaving a _very_ confused Timmy behind in the backseat.

For nearly a minute, Timmy simply stared up at the ceiling of the car's interior, his eleven year old brain absently wondering just _what_ he'd gotten himself into, before it was struck with another realization that made the boy sit up and face his babysitter, who was bent over once more, hands on her hips as she patiently watched him through the open door. "Th-That's not an answer!" He slid forward across the backseat, then hopped out and rose to his feet as Vicky took a few steps back and stood up straight herself.

"I shouldn't have to explain _everything_ to you, kid." Vicky responded, a self-satisfied smirk on her face. "I _know_ you're smart enough to draw your own conclusions, and while you may be young, you're already starting to think like an adult..." The girl frowned after a moment, realizing checking someone out wasn't just something adults did. "Or... Someone who's older than you _are_ , at least. You're thinking like a teenager."

"And... Is that why you seem... Prettier, somehow?" Timmy questioned in confusion, his head tilted ever so slightly to the left.

"Well... Part of it, I suppose." The seventeen year old ran her hand through her hair, raking a few grains of sand out of it. "It's not prettier so much as sexier- More physically attractive." The girl corrected herself, not wanting to have to explain to her charge what sex was just yet, and certainly not on the side of the road. "You being at the age where you're about to start going through puberty-or heck, maybe you already _have_ started-it's giving you... An appreciation for certain physical aspects of a girl's body... Understand?"

"Kind... Of." Timmy replied, finally understanding(partially, anyway) why Vicky's chest had been so interesting when her bikini top had slipped off, and when she'd allowed him to see and touch them a little while earlier. _"Guess my brain must like her butt too, then..."_ "So... It's _not_ bad, then... Right?"

"I wouldn't say so, no. Part of growing up is having the self-control to _not_ stare at every girl's chest or backside that passes you by, but you're still young, so it's not a _huge_ deal right now... And besides all that, you and I are kind of... _Dating_ now, anyway. It'd be weird if you _didn't_ take an interest in my body, being that you're a boy and all." Vicky shrugged, feeling relatively satisfied with her explanation. "Anyway, we should get going-" She pushed the driver's seat back into it's natural position. "-There's still a lot we need to catch you up on, and I... I'd rather do it back at your house, know what I mean?"

"Um... Sure." Timmy nodded in sheepish agreement, happy that he'd received an answer, long-winded and somewhat confusing as it was. "So... You _don't_ mind me staring at your... Butt, right?"

A low chuckle escaped the girl, followed by her shaking her head and taking a few steps closer to the eleven year old. "Twerp, you've already gotten farther with me than Ricky ever did, and... And I can admit, I actually like you, so feel free to check me out to your heart's content, I certainly don't mind the attention." She brought her right hand up and ran it through the boy's brown locks, then affectionately ruffled his hair, earning her another cute, perplexed stare, Timmy's cheeks still bearing a slight dusting of pink. "Satisfied?" She asked with a smirk.

"Y-Yeah." Timmy nodded again, wishing his babysitter had simply told him it was okay to look at her butt from the start, though he definitely appreciated the explanation she gave, as it gave him a clearer understanding of his previously inexplicable interest in the red-head.

"Good!" The red-head allowed her hand to slip out of Timmy's hair and settled it on his shoulder, then brought her left up to do the same with the opposite shoulder. "Now-" She applied a bit of pressure until the boy allowed her to turn him completely around, then gave him a light push toward the back of the car. "Hop in the car so we can go."

The brunet did as he was told and circled around the car, then yanked the passenger side door open, got in, and shut it, buckling his seatbelt just as Vicky slid into the driver's seat and started the car. "So... Are we coming back here tomorrow, or...?"

"If you want." The girl remarked absently as she backed her car out of the small parking space, then shifted it into drive, and began to steadily cruise back down the road they'd taken to get to her secret spot in the first place. "There _are_ a few swimming techniques that you _should_ probably learn, but... You've got the basics down, so I doubt you'll be drowning anytime soon."

"Well... You _are_ a really good teacher... I was scared to come out here... Y'know, in case something bad happened like in the pool at my house, but... It didn't seem so scary, once I got out in the middle of the water with you. I don't know how long it would've been before I learned to swim, otherwise, so... Thank you for teaching me, Vicky. I really appreciate it." Timmy shot his babysitter a smile of gratitude, and though her eyes were primarily focused on the road, he noticed the older teen roll her eyes and blush... Just a little.

"Yeah, yeah... Don't mention it, Timmy." Vicky kept her gaze focused straight ahead, the left side of her mouth curling up into a small smirk as she felt an oddly pleasant warmth bloom in her chest. _"He_ really _knows how to pour on the charm... Little Twerp."_ She thought to herself, still trying to appear as stoic and nonchalant as she could manage. "Since we're gonna have your house to ourselves for the rest of the day, I could always... Give you a few pointers about relationships instead...?" The girl offered, absently glancing to her left at the beach, still crowded with people; before taking a right turn onto the road flanked by sand and dry grass on both sides that had served as their approach to the beach some time earlier. From there they simply needed to hop back onto the highway, drive through the main city area of Dimmsdale, and then finally they'd be back in the suburbs where they lived.

"Er... Sure, I-" The boy cut himself off with a somewhat extended yawn, his eyes watering a little as he finished, prompting him to wipe them. "Agh, I guess that'd be good..."

"Heh, sounds like not taking that nap on the way down here is starting to catch up with you... Not to mention all that swimming and just being in the sun. You can take a nap now if you want, it'll probably take an hour or so to get back to your house, thanks to the traffic..." Vicky relaxed in her seat, resting the palm of her left hand against the side of her head to prop it up while leaning on her elbow, while her right hand remained on the steering wheel.

"Ah... I'm not _that_ tired..." The brunet remarked wearily, barely stifling another yawn as his somewhat fatigued body tried to convince him to go along with his babysitter's suggestion. "And besides, I... I kind of like... Talking to you. It's nice, somehow." Timmy blushed at the admission, finding that his feelings toward the red-head had nearly done a complete one-eighty compared to just a few days earlier. He'd always considered her to be pretty, in a way, but that was hardly a concern to him since she was almost unapproachably abrasive toward him, and he was, of course, too young for it to matter anyway(or so he thought).

Now though, his babysitter's once dread-inducing voice had become pleasant to his ears, her fiery red hair seemed vibrant and he imagined it to be soft, rather than eye-searingly red and straw-like. Even the freckles that dotted her shoulders, and were sprinkled across her cheeks and nose, now caught his eye and further enhanced her attractiveness. Had the girl always been this pretty, and he'd only been too naïve or put off by her usual demeanor to see it? Everytime he thought about these new feelings for the girl, he only ended up more confused than before. He was drawn to her, not unlike how he'd been drawn to Trixie, but Vicky, despite being the last person he'd expect to do so, acknowledged him. She _liked_ him, had even told him as much just a few short minutes ago, and he couldn't deny the tingly feeling of warmth that filled his chest when she said that. He wasn't the type to crave and seek out attention like Trixie had become when he wished they were the only two people left in the world, but knowing that his babysitter, that Vicky; reciprocated this new, budding affection for her was gratifying in a way he neither could understand, nor explain. All he _did_ know was that he enjoyed the attention she gave him, the little affectionate looks and touches, the concern he could hear in her voice when he tripped with the cooler, or when he leapt at her, thinking some horrible, slimy thing had captured his foot back at the lagoon, and _especially_ the kiss on the cheek, along with the rather _physical_ moment they'd had under the palm tree.

It was all so new, so exciting for the eleven year old; he and Vicky had not only managed to salvage a friendship out of their previous animosity, they'd _actually_ settled on the beginnings of something more; something that made him ever so slightly shiver with giddy excitement and want to wrap his arms around his babysitter's old friend for her simple yet undeniably effective idea to just... _Be nice_ to Vicky.

 _Buzz!_

The brunet's train of thought was derailed by a muffled, but still distinctly audible buzzing vibration, which was soon followed by a low groan of annoyance from the seventeen year old in the driver's seat.

"Ugh... Timmy, can you grab my phone out of my pocket and see who's texting me?" Vicky subtly tilted her head to the right, giving a quick sideways nod down toward her thigh.

"Sure." The brunet replied, leaning over in his seat and reaching for his babysitter's pocket; the top of her phone just barely peeking out. He gave it a quick little tug and, though it offered a bit of resistance, the phone slipped out, allowing him to sit back down in the passenger seat. "Let's see... Oh, it's from Heather... 'How's the cradle robbing going?' ...What's that mean? Cradle robbing?" Timmy looked at his babysitter, his head titled in confusion.

"Oh my god... Nevermind, turn it off." Vicky blushed a deep shade of pink as she brought her right hand up to her face and pinched the bridge of her nose. "What was I _thinking_ giving her my number again...?"

"I dunno, she doesn't seem _that_ bad, Vicky..." Timmy stared at the phone, the screen of which soon went black due to inactivity.

"That's because _you_ don't know Heather. Me and her used to get along, but she can just... Be so _annoying_ at times! ...Or she could, anyway. If our conversation at the hospital was anything to go by, she hasn't changed _that_ much..." Vicky pressed down on the gas pedal as she turned onto the highway on-ramp, a slight pout having formed on her face now. "Hah..." She sighed, rolling her eyes somewhat evasively. "But I guess I should've called her that day I first went to your house to babysit you... Not that that excuses her for acting like a spoiled brat up until she graduated..."

"Well... You're right that I don't know her, but she didn't seem all _that_ mad at you... Did you two tease each other a lot back when you were friends?" The eleven year old touched the phone's screen, Heather's message popping back up as it turned on.

"I mean, yeah... I'm sure you and the rest of your little Twerp squad do that to each other too, so what?" The girl shrugged, noticing the very tips of the Dimmsdale skyline poking over the trees on the right side of the road.

"Maybe she was trying to act like she used to back when you two were friends, y'know? She asked for your number, so obviously she _does_ want to be in contact with you... So why not try and fix things between you and her? It couldn't hurt, could it?" Timmy questioned, figuring he sort of owed the blonde doctor-in-training.

"No..." Vicky drummed her fingers on the steering wheel. "I guess not..." She glanced out of the corner of her eye at her phone, still in Timmy's hand. "Argh... I'll think about it, alright?"

"Alright." The boy parroted back with a nod. "Maybe her, Tootie and the two of us can go to that lagoon at some point, that'd be fun!" He remarked excitedly, knowing that the raven-haired girl wouldn't act _too_ overbearing around her older sister. _"_ _Maybe if Tootie and Heather still get along, she'll even give me some space!"_

"Oh yeah, I'm sure you'd _love_ to spend a day at the beach with three girls, wouldn't you?" Vicky briefly looked over at her charge with a teasing grin, his face now bearing a cheery-red blush.

"Th-That... I-Er... It- It's not like I'd... _Complain_ , or anything..." Timmy stammered out nervously, forcibly willing away the thought of Heather and the two Valentine sisters in swimsuits, as it made him feel _just slightly_ light-headed.

"Hah..." The red-head sighed in dramatic fashion, shaking her head back and forth. "Eleven years old, and already an adorable little perv... Although... I suppose I _am_ partially to blame for that..."

"I am _not_ a-... N-Nevermind..." The brunet managed to blush even harder, though it was now due to a combination of embarrassment and frustration at his babysitter for insisting he was a pervert. "L-Look, do you want me to t-text her back, or...?"

"Um... Nah, I'll handle it when I get home." Vicky absently waved off her charge's offer as she veered off the highway and into the exit that would take them back to Dimmsdale.

"Vicky..." The boy began, assuming his babysitter was only telling him what he wanted to hear so she could then simply _not_ call her old friend.

"Hey, I said I'd do it, and I'll do it, but I _also_ said I'd give you some pointers on relationships, and if you're serious about... _Us_ , like I am, then _you_ are my first priority, Timmy." Vicky interjected in a stern, but somehow affectionate tone of voice. It was clear to the buck-toothed eleven year old that she wasn't changing her mind on this particular matter, but at the same time, he instantly understood what she was trying to avoid outright saying, which was that she wanted to spend time with him, even if it meant putting rekindling her friendship with Heather on hold.

"I..." Timmy began, but soon trailed off, that odd warmth he felt around Vicky that was steadily becoming more and more familiar, blooming in his chest once more. "Thanks, Vicky... Again."

"Don't thank me yet, Twerp. The rate you're going, I can't help but wonder how you're gonna make all this up to me...!" Vicky shot her charge a teasing grin, making his cheeks flush with heat as he looked away and stared out the window at the towering skyscrapers of downtown Dimmsdale that now surrounded them.

"Ehehe... I guess I'll... Have to think of something, huh?" Timmy wondered aloud, not having the slightest idea as to what the older teen could possibly want from him.

Before long, the two were driving through the Dimmsdale suburbs, and Vicky pulled her car into the driveway of Timmy's house. "Ugh... I am _beat_." The red-head declared as she opened the driver's side door and hopped out of her car, then stretched, her joints popping and cracking in protest. "How about you? Feeling tired yet?"

"Augh..." Timmy yawned as he slowly pushed the passenger side door open and got out of the car, then winced as his arms and legs reminded him of the workout he'd received at the lagoon. "Ah... A little bit, yeah... You were right about being in the sun all day making you sleepy..." He shut the passenger side door, then shuffled around the car and over to his babysitter, before returning her phone to her.

"All that swimming practice probably took a lot out of you as well, _especially_ since the only thing you've had to eat today is a sandwich..." The girl remarked absently as she looked down at her phone and tapped the screen, this time seeing the message her 'friend' sent her for herself. "She can be such a-Unf...?" Vicky cut herself off with a small noise of surprise as she felt a weight gently collide with her chest, just below the bottom of her bikini top. Looking down, she soon found herself staring down at a head of brown hair, which was now lightly tickling her skin. "Er... Everything alright, Twerp?" The seventeen year old queried, her own cheeks now dusted a barely noticeable shade of pink.

"Yeah, I'm just tired, that's all..." Timmy replied listlessly, his voice low and ever so slightly muffled due to his face being oriented down toward the older girl's belly.

"And yet still clingy as ever..." The red-head pocketed her phone, then brought her hand back up and slid it into the boy's brunet locks of hair, gently running her fingers through it and against his scalp. She smirked as she felt the weight against her chest increase, quickly coming to the conclusion that Timmy enjoyed the little affectionate gesture, and decided to show as much by leaning into her. "Alright, that settles it. You need a nap, Twerp."

"Ngh..." He backed away with a small noise of defiance, his head tilting up to meet Vicky's gaze. "But... What happened to teaching me about relationships and... _Other_ stuff? I already told you I'm not _that_ tired, so..."

"Timmy, relax. I already said I'd teach you. If you have _any_ questions about this stuff, you're free to ask 'em..." The girl took a step forward, placing a hand on each of her charge's shoulders as she smiled down at him. "But nothing I tell you is gonna stick if you're too tired to focus and remember it!"

"But... Hah..." The eleven year old sighed in defeat, knowing his babysitter made a good point, especially considering he couldn't even think up a counter argument. "You... You're probably right..."

"I _am_ right. I might only be seventeen, but I _do_ know some stuff, Timmy... Like when my favorite Twerp can barely stand on his own feet." Vicky released him and stood up straight, then turned and made for the front door of his house, her key unlocking it with a low, metallic 'kerchunk'. "Coming?" She looked over her shoulder at the boy, who hesitated for a few seconds as his brain seemingly registered her question, before finally nodding and making his way over to her. _"_ _Guess I shouldn't be surprised, kid's had an eventful day..."_ The red-head thought as she let herself and Timmy into the house, then shut the door behind them.

Yet another yawn escaped the boy as he sleepily rubbed at his right eye and shuffled over to the stairs. "Ah... Alright, guess I'll go up to my room and take a nap..." Timmy grabbed the railing next to the stairs to steady himself. "But you'd better not leave without waking me-" He froze and fell silent as a hand firmly but gently settled itself on his shoulder from behind, and looked over his shoulder, first at the slender fingers and pale skin of his babysitter's hand, then at the girl's face itself as she shot him a sly grin. "...Up?"

"And just _where_ do you think _you're_ going?" The seventeen year old applied a bit of pressure to her charge's shoulder, bidding that he turn away from the stairs and face her.

"Er... Up to my room? Didn't you just tell me I should go and get some rest?" Timmy, now noticing that his eyelids were beginning to feel heavy, tilted his head quizzically at his babysitter, wondering why she was now _preventing_ him from getting the sleep she so insisted that he needed in the first place.

"I did, and you should... But I don't recall saying a _thing_ about you going up to your room." Vicky remarked in an amused tone, her eyes half-lidded as she continued to grin at the brunet.

"O... Kay...? So then where _should_ I lie down to get some rest?" Timmy questioned somewhat impatiently, his fatigue leaving him unwilling to play guessing games with the girl.

"Heehee... I'm glad you asked, Twerp!" Vicky's right hand rapidly slid down Timmy's arm and snatched up his left, her fingers interlacing themselves with his as she led the way and guided him over to the couch.

"Ah-Hey, wha- What are you-Ah!" Yet again, the brunet cut himself off, this time with a yell as the red-head gave him a final, rough tug that sent him sprawling past her and crashing into the couch, his small, eleven year old frame colliding against the back cushions with a quiet thumping noise. "Oof! Argh... Y-You could've asked..." Timmy whined up at his babysitter, more for effect and out of exhaustion than pain.

"Yeah, but asking for things _really_ isn't my style..." Vicky sank down onto the couch and laid herself down in front of the boy, effectively boxing him in between her body and the back cushions. Once comfortable with her position, she reoriented one of the couch's throw pillows so they could both use it, with her head being a few inches higher on the pillow due to her previously mentioned height advantage on the blue-eyed boy. "Comfy?"

The brunet felt a bit of warmth bloom on his cheeks and across his nose as his eyes locked on his babysitter's chest, her breasts just a couple of inches short of being at eye level. "Y-Yeah... Except... Um..." He shifted about, realizing the old t-shirt he wore felt a bit gritty. "I think I g-got sand in my shirt at the beach, it f-feels kind of... Scratchy."

"Then we'll have to do something about that, won't we?" Reaching down between her body and Timmy's, Vicky soon found her target-the hem of his t-shirt-and worked both of her hands to his hips, causing him to flinch ticklishly as her fingers grazed his bare skin. "Lift up real quick?"

Timmy obliged and lifted the right side of his body up, allowing his babysitter to slide her hands up his sides, the hem of his t-shirt going with them as the fabric rolled up to his underarms, at which point he instinctively stretched his arms up over his head to allow her to slip his shirt off him completely.

"There." Vicky balled the shirt up and tossed it over the arm of the couch, where it landed on the floor, out of sight. "Better?" Her arms returned to his sides, this time snaking around the small of his back as she pulled him closer, her stomach and navel gently pressing against his abdomen as her right leg tangled itself up with both of his.

"Y-Yeah, better." Timmy stammered out nervously, goosebumps flaring up across his sensitive flesh from their new, somewhat intimate position, their closeness forcing him to look up at the seventeen year old to meet her gaze.

"Good, 'cause I think I could _really_ get used to cuddling with my cute little Twerp!" Vicky smiled, her cheeks bearing a noticeable dusting of pink that made them feel warm. But then, she didn't really mind if Timmy saw her blush, as hers didn't even _compare_ to the bright red color staining his own cheeks as he returned her smile with a small, shy one himself.

* * *

A/N: Alright, that's a wrap for this fic, don't want it to drag on and lose the magic I feel for it. Thanks to everyone who read, reviewed, and liked the fic, and I hope you'll stay tuned for more, as I'm not quite done with this particular fic's universe _just_ yet. **:3**


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